Aristophanes Wasps 1388

ed. F. W. Hall, ed. William M. Geldart

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Wasps. Aristophanes. ed. F. W. Hall, ed. William M. Geldart. Oxford. 1906.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Σφῆκες (Greek) (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 1. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.)

Translations (2)
Wasps (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Anonymous; 1938 compilation). Migrated from Perseus legacy XML; source wording and notes retained. See TEI header and migration inventory.) — 1388 focus
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.) — 1388 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 1397

τῆς Ἀγκυλίωνος θυγατέρος καὶ Σωστράτης,
The phrase lists two daughters of the same father, Ankylios, using a singular genitive (τῆς Ἀγκυλίωνος) governing two nominative subjects. This construction, where a single genitive of relationship applies to multiple coordinated nouns without repetition, is a standard feature of Greek syntax but requires attention here because it clarifies the familial relationship between the two women in the context of the trial narrative. The mention of Sosstra as a daughter of Ankylios is significant for understanding the social standing and potential connections of the characters involved in the satire of the lawcourts.

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Λᾶσός ποτʼ ἀντεδίδασκε καὶ Σιμωνίδης·
The verb ἀντεδίδασκε (imperfect middle/passive of ἀντιδιδάσκω) is used here in a specific sense of 'countering' or 'replying to' a teaching or argument, a usage attested in Old Comedy but distinct from the more common ἀντιλέγειν. The construction with a proper name as the subject in the imperfect suggests an iterative or habitual action in the past, implying that Simonides was known for repeatedly refuting the lessons of the 'Láos' (interpreted by some ancient scholia as a specific, perhaps fictional or allegorical, teacher of the people, or a corruption of Λαῖος). The phrase serves as a comic analogy, equating the old man's stubbornness in the play with the poetic tradition of Simonides engaging in intellectual dispute.
The term Λᾶσος (Láos) is a crux in this passage. While the scholia offer various explanations, some identifying it with a specific historical figure or a metaphorical 'people', the most compelling interpretation in the context of Aristophanic satire is that it refers to a specific, now obscure, figure of authority or a corrupted reference to the 'laos' (people) in a way that plays on the idea of the common man teaching the poet. The ambiguity of Λᾶσος as a proper noun versus a common noun (with a potential textual corruption) makes this a significant textual issue.

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γυναικὶ † κλητεύειν ἐοικὼς † θαψίνῃ,
The text presents a crux involving the hapax legomenon θαψίνῃ (thapsinē). While the scholia interpret this as a corruption of ταψίῃ (related to the baking-pan ταψίας, implying a woman 'like a baking-pan' or perhaps 'like a woman who bakes'), the manuscript tradition also preserves θαψίνῃ with a variant reading θαψινῇ. The adjective likely derives from θάψις (a digging or burial), suggesting the simile 'like one who buries' (referring to the woman's tendency to bury her husband or his property, or perhaps the act of digging a grave), but the textual corruption is so severe that the exact meaning remains debated among editors. This requires a choice between emending to ταψίῃ (a baking-pan) or retaining θαψίνῃ (a burier) based on the context of the play's satire on the old man's domineering wife.

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Ἰνοῖ κρεμαμένῃ πρὸς ποδῶν Εὐριπίδου.
The participle κρεμαμένῃ (feminine dative singular) agrees with an implied or contextually supplied noun, likely referring to the 'net' (δίκτυον) or 'trap' alluded to in the surrounding lines, where the character Philocleon compares his own entrapment to a net hung at the feet of Euripides. This construction relies on a metaphorical reading of 'hanging at the feet' as a sign of subservience or entrapment, which is a deliberate rhetorical device (metaphor) rather than a literal description of physical positioning.