Aristophanes Wasps 605

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.) — 605 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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καὶ παππίζουσʼ ἅμα τῇ γλώττῃ τὸ τριώβολον ἐκκαλαμᾶται,
The verb ἐκκαλαμᾶται (from ἐκκαλαμίζω) is a technical term of forensic rhetoric meaning 'to sharpen a speech' or 'to make a speech more biting/pointed,' literally 'to sharpen like a reed pen.' Here, Aristophanes uses it in a comic, literal sense to describe the physical act of a dog sharpening its tongue against a stone (or the ground) while eating the drachma, creating a pun that equates the dog's hunger with the lawyer's rhetorical aggression. This dual usage is a specific instance of the playwright's characteristic wordplay on legal terminology.

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βρωμησάμενος τοῦ σοῦ δίνου μέγα καὶ στράτιον κατέπαρδεν.
The verb καταπαρδέω (here καταπαρδεν) is a hapax legomenon in extant literature, formed with the prefix κατα- on the verb παρδέω (to fart), creating a hyperbolic meaning 'to fart violently' or 'to blow a massive fart.' In this context, the chorus of the Wasps, led by Bdelycleon's father Philocleon, uses this grotesque imagery to describe the effect of a large meal on his digestion, serving as a comedic climax to his gluttony. The construction is a prime example of Aristophanic scatological humor, where the physical expulsion of gas is conflated with the military metaphor of a 'farting army' (στράτιον) to mock the aggressive, bloated nature of the elderly juror.