Aristophanes Wasps 183

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

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Βδελυκλέων

ποῖον; φέρʼ ἴδωμαι τουτονί. τουτὶ τί ἦν;

τίς εἶ ποτʼ ὦνθρωπʼ ἐτεόν;

Φιλοκλέων

Οὖτις νὴ Δία.

Βδελυκλέων

Οὖτις σύ; ποδαπός;
185

Φιλοκλέων

Ἴθακος Ἀποδρασιππίδου.

Βδελυκλέων

Οὖτις μὰ τὸν Δίʼ οὔτι χαιρήσων γε σύ.

ὕφελκε θᾶττον αὐτόν. ὦ μιαρώτατος

ἵνʼ ὑποδέδυκεν· ὥστʼ ἔμοιγʼ ἰνδάλλεται

ὁμοιότατος κλητῆρος εἶναι πωλίῳ.

Φιλοκλέων

εἰ μή μʼ ἐάσεθʼ ἥσυχον, μαχούμεθα.
190

Βδελυκλέων

περὶ τοῦ μαχεῖ νῷν δῆτα;

Φιλοκλέων

περὶ ὄνου σκιᾶς.

Βδελυκλέων

πονηρὸς εἶ πόρρω τέχνης καὶ παράβολος.

Φιλοκλέων

ἐγὼ πονηρός; οὐ μὰ Δίʼ ἀλλʼ οὐκ οἶσθα σὺ

νῦν μʼ ὄντʼ ἄριστον· ἀλλʼ ἴσως, ὅταν φάγῃς

ὑπογάστριον γέροντος ἡλιαστικοῦ.
195

Βδελυκλέων

ὤθει τὸν ὄνον καὶ σαυτὸν ἐς τὴν οἰκίαν.

Φιλοκλέων

ὦ ξυνδικασταὶ καὶ Κλέων ἀμύνατε.

Βδελυκλέων

ἔνδον κέκραχθι τῆς θύρας κεκλῃμένης.

ὤθει σὺ πολλοὺς τῶν λίθων πρὸς τὴν θύραν,

καὶ τὴν βάλανον ἔμβαλλε πάλιν ἐς τὸν μοχλόν,
200

καὶ τῇ δοκῷ προσθεὶς τὸν ὅλμον τὸν μέγαν

ἀνύσας τι προσκύλισον.

Σωσίας

οἴμοι δείλαιος·

πόθεν ποτʼ ἐμπέπτωκέ μοι τὸ βωλίον;

Βδελυκλέων

ἴσως ἄνωθεν μῦς ἐνέβαλέ σοί ποθεν.

Σωσίας

μῦς; οὐ μὰ Δίʼ ἀλλʼ ὑποδυόμενός τις οὑτοσὶ
205

ὑπὸ τῶν κεραμίδων ἡλιαστὴς ὀροφίας.

Βδελυκλέων

οἴμοι κακοδαίμων, στροῦθος ἁνὴρ γίγνεται·

ἐκπτήσεται. ποῦ ποῦ ʼστί μοι τὸ δίκτυον;

σοῦ σοῦ, πάλιν σοῦ. νὴ Δίʼ ἦ μοι κρεῖττον ἦν

τηρεῖν Σκιώνην ἀντὶ τούτου τοῦ πατρός.
210

Σωσίας

ἄγε νυν, ἐπειδὴ τουτονὶ σεσοβήκαμεν,

κοὐκ ἔσθʼ ὅπως διαδὺς ἂν ἡμᾶς ἔτι λάθοι,

τί οὐκ ἀπεκοιμήθημεν ὅσον ὅσον στίλην;

Βδελυκλέων

ἀλλʼ ὦ πόνηρʼ ἥξουσιν ὀλίγον ὕστερον

οἱ ξυνδικασταὶ παρακαλοῦντες τουτονὶ
215

τὸν πατέρα.

Σωσίας

τίλέγεις; ἀλλὰ νῦν γʼ ὄρθρος βαθύς.

Βδελυκλέων

νὴ τὸν Δίʼ, ὀψὲ γοῦν ἀνεστήκασι νῦν.

ὡς ἀπὸ μέσων νυκτῶν γε παρακαλοῦσʼ ἀεί,

λύχνους ἔχοντες καὶ μινυρίζοντες μέλη

ἀρχαῖα μελισιδωνοφρυνιχήρατα,
220

οἷς ἐκκαλοῦνται τοῦτον.

Σωσίας

οὐκοῦν, ἢν δέῃ,

ἤδη ποτʼ αὐτοὺς τοῖς λίθοις βαλλήσομεν.

Βδελυκλέων

ἀλλʼ ὦ πόνηρε τὸ γένος ἤν τις ὀργίσῃ

τὸ τῶν γερόντων, ἔσθʼ ὅμοιον σφηκιᾷ.

ἔχουσι γὰρ καὶ κέντρον ἐκ τῆς ὀσφύος
225

ὀξύτατον, ᾧ κεντοῦσι, καὶ κεκραγότες

πηδῶσι καὶ βάλλουσιν ὥσπερ φέψαλοι.

Σωσίας

μὴ φροντίσῃς· ἐὰν ἐγὼ λίθους ἔχω,

πολλῶν δικαστῶν σφηκιὰν διασκεδῶ.

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 (1)

Wasps (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Anonymous; 1938 compilation). Migrated from Perseus legacy XML; source wording and notes retained. See TEI header and migration inventory.) — 183 focus

Bdelycleon

Who, who? Let's see. Why it's he! What does this mean? Who are you? Come, speak!

Philocleon

I am Noman.

Bdelycleon

185 Noman? Of what country?

Philocleon

Of Ithaca , son of Apodrasippides.

Bdelycleon

Ha! Mister Noman, you will not laugh presently. Pull him out quick. Ah! the wretch, where has he crept to? Does he not resemble a she-ass to the life?

Philocleon

190 If you do not leave me in peace, I shall sue.

Bdelycleon

And what will the suit be about?

Philocleon

The shade of an ass.

Bdelycleon

You are a poor man of very little wit, but thoroughly brazen.

Philocleon

A poor man! Ah! by Zeus! you know not now what I am worth; but you will know when 195 you disembowel the old Heliast's money-bag.

Bdelycleon

Come, get back indoors, both you and your ass.

Philocleon

Oh! my brethren of the tribunal! oh! Cleon! to the rescue!

Bdelycleon

Go and bawl in there under lock and key. And you there, pile plenty of stones against the door, 200 thrust the bolt home into the staple, and to keep this beam in its place roll that great mortar against it. Quick's the word.

Sosias

Oh! my god! whence did this brick fall on me?

Bdelycleon

Perhaps a rat loosened it.

Xanthias

205 A rat? it's surely our gutter-judge, who has crept beneath the tiles of the roof.

Bdelycleon

Ah! woe to us! there he is, he has turned into a sparrow; he will be flying off. Where is the net? where? Shoo! shoo! get back! Ah! by Zeus! 210 I would rather have to guard Scione than such a father.

Sosias

And now that we have driven him in thoroughly and he can no longer escape without our knowledge, can we not have a few winks of sleep, no matter how few?

Bdelycleon

Why, wretch! 215 the other jurymen will be here almost directly to summon my father!

Sosias

Why, it's scarcely dawn yet!

Bdelycleon

Ah, they must have risen late to-day. Generally it is the middle of the night when they come to fetch him. They arrive here, carrying lanterns in their hands and singing the charming 220 old verses of Phrynichus' Sidonian Women; it's their way of calling him.

Sosias

Well, if need be, we will chase them off with stones.

Bdelycleon

What! you dare to speak so? Why, this class of old men, if irritated, becomes as terrible as a swarm of wasps. 225 They carry below their loins the sharpest of stings, with which to prick their foe; they shout and leap and their stings burn like so many sparks.

Sosias

Have no fear! If I can find stones to throw into this nest of jurymen-wasps, I shall soon have them cleared off.