Aristophanes Wasps 1335

ed. Eugene O'Neill, Jr.

Wasps. Aristophanes. ed. Eugene O'Neill, Jr.. New York. 1938.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Current edition Experimental

Wasps (OCR draft) (English) (English (Anonymous; 1938 compilation). Migrated from Perseus legacy XML; source wording and notes retained. See TEI header and migration inventory.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)
Σφῆκες Perseus (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 1. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.) — 1292-1449 focus
Translations (1)
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.) — 1335 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

1341. mvp-tlg0019-tlg004-sanjaya-com-eng1-76

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ἀνάβαινε δεῦρο χρυσομηλολόνθιον,
The adjective χρυσομηλολόνθιον is a coined compound (a hapax legomenon in this specific form) functioning as a vocative of address to the dog Labes. It is a satirical neologism combining χρυσός (gold), μήλον (apple), and λόνθιον (a diminutive of λόνθος, a type of fig or perhaps a corruption of λῶνθος/λόνθος meaning 'fig' or 'morsel'). The term is not a standard epithet but a comic invention by Aristophanes to mock the dog's supposed value or appetite, treating a scavenger dog as if it were a precious, golden-fruit-eating creature. The construction relies on the reader recognizing the compound's components to grasp the absurdity of the address.