Aristophanes Wasps 1417

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.) — 1417 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.) — 1417 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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οὕτω δὲ καὶ σὺ παράτρεχʼ ἐς τὰ Πιττάλου.
The proper noun Πιττάλου is the genitive of Πίτταλος, referring to Pittalacus, a well-known Athenian flute-girl (hetaera) associated with the symposia of the late fifth century. In this context, the verb παράτρεχʼ (run alongside/across to) functions as a comic euphemism for sexual intercourse or, more specifically, for visiting a prostitute, a common trope in Old Comedy where characters are urged to 'run to' a woman's house. The specific reference to Pittalacus likely alludes to a contemporary scandal or a specific reputation of hers that would have been immediately recognizable to the original audience, serving as a punchline to the preceding dialogue about the old man's behavior.

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ἄκουε, μὴ φεῦγʼ. ἐν Συβάρει γυνή ποτε
The imperative φεῦγε (contracted here as φεῦγʼ) is an elliptical form of φεῦγε, meaning 'flee' or 'run away.' In this context, the speaker (Bdelycleon) is commanding his father (Philocleon) not to flee from the trial or the situation, playing on the physical act of fleeing as a metaphor for avoiding responsibility or the judicial process. The contraction φεῦγʼ is a standard crasis in the imperative, but the imperative itself is a key rhetorical device in the play, as Philocleon is often depicted as trying to escape the constraints of his son's authority and the city's laws.
The phrase ἐν Συβάρει refers to the city of Sybaris in southern Italy, which was famously known for its wealth and, in Greek comedy, for its inhabitants' extreme effeminacy and luxury. The reference to Sybaris here is a cultural allusion, implying that the woman in question is so luxurious or effeminate that she would be found in Sybaris. This allusion serves to highlight the contrast between the woman's behavior and the traditional Greek ideals of virtue and simplicity.
The word γυνή (gynē) is used here in a specific context where it refers to a woman who is the subject of a story or a moral lesson. In this case, the woman is being described as someone who is so luxurious or effeminate that she is associated with Sybaris. The use of γυνή in this context is a deliberate choice by Aristophanes to emphasize the contrast between the woman's behavior and the traditional Greek ideals of virtue and simplicity.

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κατέαξʼ ἐχῖνον.
The verb κατάαξω (here contracted to κατέαξʼ) is a rare hapax legomenon in Aristophanes, formed from κατά + ἀξόω (to whet or sharpen). In this context, it is a metaphorical compound meaning 'to sharpen' or 'to make eager,' specifically describing the activation of the dog's predatory instinct. The construction relies on the specific comedic convention of personifying the dog as a legal instrument or a hound of the law, a usage that requires the audience to recognize the semantic shift from physical sharpening to the metaphorical 'sharpening' of the dog's appetite for prosecution.

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οὑχῖνος οὖν ἔχων τινʼ ἐπεμαρτύρατο·
The verb ἐπεμαρτύρατο is a deponent middle form of μαρτυρέω, here used with an accusative object (τινʼ) to mean 'he gave testimony against someone' or 'he swore to the guilt of someone.' While μαρτυρέω often appears with a genitive of the person accused in other contexts, the accusative construction here is standard for the specific forensic sense of 'bearing witness against' in Attic tragedy and comedy, though the middle voice emphasizes the personal involvement of the witness in the act of accusation. The phrase οὑχῖνος (a rare form of οὐχὶ ὅς, or possibly a textual corruption of οὐχὶ ὅσος) requires scrutiny: if read as οὐχὶ ὅς, it introduces a rhetorical question meaning 'Is he not the one who...?', but if it is a corruption of οὐχὶ ὅν (accusative), it would mean 'Is he not the one who...?', which fits the accusative object τινʼ. The most likely reading, supported by some manuscripts, is οὐχὶ ὅς, where the relative pronoun is attracted to the case of its antecedent implied in the context, or it is a crux where the relative pronoun refers to the subject of the main clause. The construction is syntactically complex and has been the subject of textual debate, with some editors proposing οὐχὶ ὅν or οὐχὶ ὅς depending on the intended meaning.

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Αἴσωπον οἱ Δελφοί ποτʼ —
The fragment refers to the fable of Aesop and the Delphians, a specific literary allusion where Delphi is portrayed as the city that executed Aesop (often attributed to a decree for 'sacrilegious' acts or simply political expediency). In the context of Aristophanes' *Wasps*, this allusion serves as a satirical parallel between the Delphic execution of a foreigner and the Athenian jury's harsh treatment of its own citizens, specifically targeting the procedural excesses of the dikasteria. The abrupt ellipsis 'ποτʼ —' (once —) is a deliberate rhetorical device, mimicking the interrupted speech of a character (likely Bdelycleon or a chorus member) to evoke the notorious 'Delphic decree' story without fully recounting it, relying on the audience's familiarity with the fable tradition to complete the analogy of unjust judicial murder.