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Φιλοκλέων

ὃ δέ γʼ ἥδιστον τούτων ἐστὶν πάντων, οὗ ʼγὼ ʼπελελήσμην,
605

ὅταν οἴκαδʼ ἴω τὸν μισθὸν ἔχων, κἄπειθʼ ἥκονθʼ ἅμα πάντες

ἀσπάζωνται διὰ τἀργύριον, καὶ πρῶτα μὲν ἡ θυγάτηρ με

ἀπονίζῃ καὶ τὼ πόδʼ ἀλείφῃ καὶ προσκύψασα φιλήσῃ

καὶ παππίζουσʼ ἅμα τῇ γλώττῃ τὸ τριώβολον ἐκκαλαμᾶται,

καὶ τὸ γύναιόν μʼ ὑποθωπεῦσαν φυστὴν μᾶζαν προσενέγκῃ,
610

κἄπειτα καθεζομένη παρʼ ἐμοὶ προσαναγκάζῃ, φάγε τουτί,

ἔντραγε τουτί· τούτοισιν ἐγὼ γάνυμαι, κοὐ μή με δεήσῃ

ἐς σὲ βλέψαι καὶ τὸν ταμίαν, ὁπότʼ ἄριστον παραθήσει

καταρασάμενος καὶ τονθορύσας. ἀλλʼ ἢν μή μοι ταχὺ μάξῃ,

τάδε κέκτημαι πρόβλημα κακῶν, σκευὴν βελέων ἀλεωρήν.
615

κἂν οἶνόν μοι μὴ ʼγχῇς σὺ πιεῖν, τὸν ὄνον τόνδʼ ἐσκεκόμισμαι

οἴνου μεστόν, κᾆτʼ ἐγχέομαι κλίνας· οὗτος δὲ κεχηνὼς

βρωμησάμενος τοῦ σοῦ δίνου μέγα καὶ στράτιον κατέπαρδεν.

ἆρʼ οὐ μεγάλην ἀρχὴν ἄρχω καὶ τοῦ Διὸς οὐδὲν ἐλάττω,
620

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.) — 605 focus

Philocleon

605 But I am forgetting the most pleasing thing of all. When I return home with my pay, everyone runs to greet me because of my money. First my daughter bathes me, anoints my feet, stoops to kiss me and, while she is calling me "her dearest father," fishes out my triobolus with her tongue; 610 then my little wife comes to wheedle me and brings a nice light cake; she sits beside me and entreats me in a thousand ways, "Do take this now; do have some more." All this delights me hugely, and I have no need to turn towards you or the steward to know when it shall please him to serve my dinner, all the while cursing and grumbling. But if he does not quickly knead my cake, 615 I have something which is my defence, my shield against all ills. If you do not pour me out drink, I have brought this long-eared jar full of wine. How it brays, when I bend back and bury its neck in my mouth! It farts like a whole army, and how I laugh at your wine-skins. With increasing excitement 620 As to power, am I not equal to the king of the gods?

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

Philocleon: But this is the most pleasant of all these things, about which I had forgotten.

605

Philocleon: When I go home having the reward, and then I come back, all of us together.

Philocleon: Let them greet because of the money, and first of all my daughter [does so].

Philocleon: wash your feet, anoint your feet, and after bending down, kiss.

Philocleon: And while puffing his cheeks with his tongue, he whistles the obol,

Philocleon: and that he might have brought me a flint-and-steel cake, having cajoled my wife,

610

Philocleon: And then, sitting down by me, you force me, 'Eat this,'

Philocleon: Eat this! I am delighted by these things, and you will not need to ask me.

Philocleon: to look at you and the treasurer, whenever he will serve breakfast.

Philocleon: Having cursed and roared. But unless you quickly box me,

Philocleon: I have acquired this problem, a shield for the arrows.

615

Philocleon: Don't offer me wine to drink, I have brought this donkey myself.

Philocleon: a full cup of wine, and then I pour it down the drain; but he stands with his mouth open

Philocleon: after having snorted your dung, he has become very bold and an army.

Philocleon: Am I not ruling a great office, and not one bit less than Zeus's?

620

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

609. mvp-tlg0019-tlg004-sanjaya-com-eng1-27

Line 609

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.

618. mvp-tlg0019-tlg004-sanjaya-com-eng1-28

Line 618

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.

Aristophanes Wasps 605

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

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Commentary

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