Aristophanes Clouds 731

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Clouds. Aristophanes. . 2026-09-08.

Current edition Experimental

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

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)
Νεφέλαι Perseus (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 1. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.) — 627-888a focus
Translations (1)
Clouds Perseus (Aristophanes. The Comedies of Aristophanes, Vol. I. Hickie, William James, translator. Bohn: London, 1853.) — 731 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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Line 734

οὐδέν γε πλὴν ἢ τὸ πέος ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ.
The phrase 'τὸ πέος ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ' is a notorious crux in the textual tradition. While the literal translation ('nothing except the penis in the right hand') is grammatically sound, the phrase has been suspected by scholars (e.g., Meineke, Kock) of being a corruption or a later interpolation, possibly obscuring a reference to a 'phallus' (ἄρρηκτον) or a specific prop used in the comic mime that the original audience would recognize. The phrase appears in the context of a character (likely Strepsiades or a companion) describing a ridiculous or obscene gesture, and its abruptness in the dialogue has led to conjectures that the original text may have read 'τὸ πέος ἐν τῇ χειρὶ' or contained a different verb entirely, though no surviving manuscript offers a significant alternative reading to this specific phrase; the 'crux' lies in its perceived obscenity and potential metrical or contextual dissonance rather than a direct manuscript variant. Some editors argue it is a deliberate, shocking comic effect, while others suggest it is a corruption of a more obscure idiom.

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Line 749

γυναῖκα φαρμακίδʼ εἰ πριάμενος Θετταλὴν
The adjective φαρμακίδ' (from φαρμακίς, a female sorcerer or poisoner) is a hapax legomenon in the extant corpus of Aristophanes, appearing here as a striking example of his coinage of terms to characterize the 'new learning' of the Sophists as actual witchcraft. The term relies on the contemporary Athenian association of the Thessalians with magical practices (a topos found in Herodotus and later in the *Phaedra* of Euripides), but its specific application to a 'wife' purchased by the character Strepsiades serves as a hyperbolic metonymy for the deceptive rhetoric of the Socratic school, which is presented as a purchased commodity that corrupts the household.

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Line 767

ἤδη παρὰ τοῖσι φαρμακοπώλαις τὴν λίθον
The phrase παρὰ τοῖσι φαρμακοπώλαις relies on the dative of place where (or 'at the shop of') rather than the more common genitive of possession or accusative of motion towards. While the dative with παρά can denote proximity, its specific use here with the plural commercial designation φαρμακοπώλαις ('drug-sellers') evokes the specific Athenian underworld of illicit vendors, contrasting with the regulated market of the Agora. The term φαρμακοπώλης itself is rare in Aristophanes outside this context, appearing only here and in the Birds, functioning as a technical term for those selling both legitimate remedies and, by implication in comedy, poisons or magical charms, highlighting the blurred line between medicine and witchcraft in the play's satirical economy.