Aristophanes Wasps 548

ed. Eugene O'Neill, Jr.

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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.) — 526-728 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.) — 548 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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ἐμβάλλει μοι τὴν χεῖρʼ ἁπαλὴν τῶν δημοσίων κεκλοφυῖαν·
The phrase τῶν δημοσίων κεκλοφυῖαν represents a striking and highly irregular use of the genitive plural with the adjective κεκλοφυῖαν (meaning 'soft' or 'delicate', derived from κηλέω 'to soften'). Here, it functions not as a standard attributive genitive modifying a noun, but as a substantive genitive of origin or possession, effectively meaning 'the softness belonging to the public [fingers/hands]'. This construction is rare in Aristophanes, who typically favors more direct apposition or simple adjectival agreement, and it creates a deliberate synecdoche where the abstract quality of 'softness' (associated with the leisurely, non-manual labor of the elite) is transferred to the physical act of the chorus leader (the 'public' figure) reaching out. The use of the genitive τῶν δημοσίων to modify an implied 'χέρι' (hand) is syntactically elliptical but semantically charged, contrasting the physical 'hand' (χεῖρ') with the abstract 'softness' (ἁπαλὴν) in a way that highlights the social satire of the 'public' man's lack of physical labor.

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κακὰ πρὸς τοῖς οὖσιν, † ἕως ἀνιῶν ἂν ἰσώσῃ τοῖσιν ἐμοῖσιν· †
The text contains a critical crux marked by the dagger symbols (†). The phrase 'ἕως ἀνιῶν ἂν ἰσώσῃ' is syntactically and semantically problematic in its transmitted form. The participle 'ἀνιῶν' (being angry) combined with the future subjunctive 'ἰσώσῃ' (he will make equal) lacks a clear antecedent or logical connection to the preceding 'κακὰ πρὸς τοῖς οὖσιν' (evil things alongside the ears). Many editors, following the conjecture of Hermann or others, suggest a corruption where 'ἀνιῶν' may be a scribal error for 'ἀνύων' (accomplishing) or that the entire phrase requires emendation to restore the sense of 'until he has balanced the scales with my interests.' The variant reading or the necessity of conjecture here is significant because it alters the understanding of the character's threat regarding the balance of justice or retribution.

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ὥσπερ θεὸν ἀντιβολεῖ με τρέμων τῆς εὐθύνης ἀπολῦσαι·
The phrase τῆς εὐθύνης ἀπολῦσαι presents a syntactically irregular genitive construction. While the verb ἀπολύω typically governs the genitive of the person or thing being released (e.g., ἀπολύειν τινος), the use of the genitive τῆς εὐθύνης (of the responsibility/indictment) with ἀπολῦσαι (to release from) creates a semantic tension: one is released from a person or a charge, but here the abstract 'responsibility' itself is the object of release. This construction likely reflects the specific legal idiom of the Athenian courts where εὐθύνη referred to the accountability of a magistrate or official, and the phrase implies 'to release me from the liability of the εὐθύνη' rather than a simple 'release from a charge.' The genitive here is not a standard partitive or objective genitive but a specific legal technicality where the abstract noun functions as the source of the obligation from which the subject is freed.

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δεύτερον αὖ σου τουτὶ γράφομαι, τὴν τοῦ πλούτου καταχήνην·
The verb καταχήνην (katakḗnēn) is a hapax legomenon in this form, derived from the rare noun χήνη (goose) with the intensive prefix κατα-. Here it functions as a substantive metaphor for 'the goose of wealth' or 'the fattening of wealth,' a comic neologism unique to this passage where the chorus of wasps, acting as a jury, equates their judicial activity with fattening themselves on the spoils of the wealthy. The term relies on the audience's familiarity with the association of geese with gluttony and the specific Athenian context of 'fattening' the state or oneself through public funds, a metaphor Aristophanes extends to the jury's exploitation of the city's treasury.