Aristophanes Clouds 261b-355

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

Table of Contents

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Card
← Previous Next →

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.) — 261b 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.) — 261b 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

293. mvp-tlg0019-tlg003-sanjaya-com-eng1-18

Line 293

καὶ σέβομαί γʼ ὦ πολυτίμητοι καὶ βούλομαι ἀνταποπαρδεῖν
The verb ἀνταποπαρδεῖν is a hapax legomenon in Aristophanic comedy, constructed from ἀντα- (back/against), ἀπο- (away), and παρδεῖν (to fart). This rare compound verb functions as a grotesque, hyperbolic response to the Clouds' demand for reverence, utilizing the highest register of scatological humor to invert the solemnity of the preceding σέβομαί (I revere). Its syntactic construction as a future infinitive dependent on βούλομαι (I wish/want) is grammatically standard, but the lexical formation itself is a deliberate comic distortion of formal compounds, marking the moment where the character Strepsiades attempts to appease the divine entities through the most vulgar of oaths.

295. mvp-tlg0019-tlg003-sanjaya-com-eng1-19

Line 295

κεἰ θέμις ἐστίν, νυνί γʼ ἤδη, κεἰ μὴ θέμις ἐστί, χεσείω.
The sentence presents a crux regarding the manuscript reading of the first word. While some editions (e.g., Dobree) have conjectured κεἰ (a variant of καί with elision) to mean 'and if', the manuscript tradition is divided, with some witnesses reading κἄν (if even) or simply καί. The ambiguity is critical: if κεἰ is read as 'and if', the speaker is adding a hypothetical condition to a previous argument; if it is a corruption of κἄν, it introduces a concessive clause ('even if') which drastically alters the rhetorical force of the threat that follows. The form κεἰ is also notable for its dialectal coloring (Aeolic or Doric influence in the contraction of εἰ + καί) which Aristophanes employs to mark the character's rustic or archaic tone, though the syntactic function depends entirely on the accepted reading.

303. mvp-tlg0019-tlg003-sanjaya-com-eng1-20

Line 303

μυστοδόκος δόμος
The compound μυστοδόκος (mystodokos) is a hapax legomenon in Aristophanes, formed from μύστος (unripe grape) and δέχομαι. The phrase refers to the 'unripe-grape receiving house,' a specific architectural feature of the Athenian household where the harvest was stored. Its inclusion here, likely in the context of the Clouds' critique of Socrates or the sophists' rejection of traditional agricultural values, highlights the tension between the new intellectualism and the preservation of the oikos. The term is not merely descriptive but carries the semantic weight of the entire agricultural cycle, which the sophists are accused of undermining.

335. mvp-tlg0019-tlg003-sanjaya-com-eng1-21

Line 335

ταῦτʼ ἄρʼ ἐποίουν ὑγρᾶν Νεφελᾶν στρεπταιγλᾶν δάιον ὁρμάν,
The genitive plural ὁρμᾶν (from ὁρμή) is syntactically dependent on the noun δάιον (likely a hapax or textual corruption for δαίαν or δαίμονα, 'spirit/daimon'), forming the rare construction of a substantive with a genitive of quality or origin rather than the more standard partitive or descriptive genitive. This reflects Aristophanes' characteristic lexical innovation and the comic poet's tendency to conflate abstract nouns with personified entities in the Clouds' self-description.

353. mvp-tlg0019-tlg003-sanjaya-com-eng1-22

Line 353

ταῦτʼ ἄρα ταῦτα Κλεώνυμον αὗται τὸν ῥίψασπιν χθὲς ἰδοῦσαι,
The phrase ῥίψασπιν is a hapax legomenon in the Aristophanic corpus, functioning as a compound adjective (from ῥίπτω + ἀσπίς) describing a soldier who discards his shield. The term is a specific technical insult within the context of Athenian military culture, referring to the cowardly act of throwing away one's shield to flee the battle line (the source of the later verb ῥιψοκίνδυνος in a different sense). Its use here by the Clouds identifies Cleonymus not merely as a soldier, but as the archetypal deserter, a figure whose reputation for cowardice was so well-known in 423 BCE that no further elaboration was needed for the audience.

355. mvp-tlg0019-tlg003-sanjaya-com-eng1-23

Line 355

καὶ νῦν γʼ ὅτι Κλεισθένη εἶδον, ὁρᾷς, διὰ τοῦτʼ ἐγένοντο γυναῖκες.
The clause ὅτι Κλεισθένη εἶδον employs the conjunction ὅτι with the aorist indicative to introduce a causal clause meaning 'since I saw Cleisthenes' or 'now that I have seen Cleisthenes.' This usage of ὅτι for 'since' or 'now that' (often with the indicative) is a specific feature of Aristophanic comic style, contrasting with the more common causal use of γάρ or the causal participle construction found in Attic prose. The specific reference to Cleisthenes (likely the son of Hegesistratus, a contemporary figure known for his effeminate dress and association with Socrates in the play) grounds the abstract complaint about the rise of women in a concrete, contemporary political and social event, serving as the immediate catalyst for the Chorus's observation.