Line 1198
ὅπερ οἱ προτένθαι γὰρ δοκοῦσί μοι ποιεῖν·
The term προτένθαι (protenthai) is a hapax legomenon in Aristophanes, appearing only here in extant comedy. While the verb προτείνω (to stretch out or offer) is common, the specific aorist infinitive form here is morphologically irregular or potentially a scribal corruption for προτεῖναι. The context of the Clouds' rhetorical argument involves them claiming to 'stretch out' or 'offer' a new way of life; the unusual form may reflect Aristophanes' deliberate coinage to mimic the 'stretching' of logic or language by the Sophists, or it may represent a textual crux where the manuscript tradition (e.g., codex Venetus) preserves a form that later editors have struggled to reconcile with standard Attic morphology.
Clouds. Aristophanes. . 2026-09-08.