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Βδελυκλέων

ἴθʼ ὦ πάτερ πρὸς τῶν θεῶν ἐμοὶ πιθοῦ.
760

Φιλοκλέων

τί σοι πίθωμαι; λέγʼ ὅ τι βούλει πλὴν ἑνός.

Βδελυκλέων

ποίου; φέρʼ ἴδω.

Φιλοκλέων

τοῦ μὴ δικάζειν. τοῦτο δὲ

Ἅιδης διακρινεῖ πρότερον ἢ ʼγὼ πείσομαι.

Βδελυκλέων

σὺ δʼ οὖν, ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο κεχάρηκας ποιῶν,

ἐκεῖσε μὲν μηκέτι βάδιζʼ, ἀλλʼ ἐνθάδε
765

αὐτοῦ μένων δίκαζε τοῖσιν οἰκέταις.

Φιλοκλέων

περὶ τοῦ; τί ληρεῖς;

Βδελυκλέων

ταὔθʼ ἅπερ ἐκεῖ πράττεται·

ὅτι τὴν θύραν ἀνέῳξεν ἡ σηκὶς λάθρᾳ,

ταύτης ἐπιβολὴν ψηφιεῖ μίαν μόνην.

πάντως δὲ κἀκεῖ ταῦτʼ ἔδρας ἑκάστοτε.
770

καὶ ταῦτα μέν νυν εὐλόγως, ἢν ἐξέχῃ

ἕλη κατʼ ὄρθρον, ἡλιάσει πρὸς ἥλιον·

ἐὰν δὲ νείφῃ, πρὸς τὸ πῦρ καθήμενος·

ὕοντος εἴσει· κἄν ἔγρῃ μεσημβρινός,

οὐδείς σʼ ἀποκλῄσει θεσμοθέτης τῇ κιγκλίδι.
775

Φιλοκλέων

τουτί μʼ ἀρέσκει.

Βδελυκλέων

πρὸς δὲ τούτοις γʼ, ἢν δίκην

λέγῃ μακράν τις, οὐχὶ πεινῶν ἀναμενεῖς

δάκνων σεαυτὸν καὶ τὸν ἀπολογούμενον.

Φιλοκλέων

πῶς οὖν διαγιγνώσκειν καλῶς δυνήσομαι

ὥσπερ πρότερον τὰ πράγματʼ ἔτι μασώμενος;
780

Βδελυκλέων

πολλῷ γʼ ἄμεινον· καὶ λέγεται γὰρ τουτογί,

ὡς οἱ δικασταὶ ψευδομένων τῶν μαρτύρων

μόλις τὸ πρᾶγμʼ ἔγνωσαν ἀναμασώμενοι.

Φιλοκλέων

ἀνά τό με πείθεις. ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνʼ οὔπω λέγεις,

τὸν μισθὸν ὁπόθεν λήψομαι.
785

Βδελυκλέων

παρʼ ἐμοῦ.

Φιλοκλέων

καλῶς,

ὁτιὴ κατʼ ἐμαυτὸν κοὐ μεθʼ ἑτέρου λήψομαι.

αἴσχιστα γάρ τοί μʼ ἠργάσατο Λυσίστρατος

ὁ σκωπτόλης. δραχμὴν μετʼ ἐμοῦ πρώην λαβὼν

ἐλθὼν διεκερματίζετʼ ἐν τοῖς ἰχθύσιν,

κἄπειτʼ ἐνέθηκε τρεῖς λοπίδας μοι κεστρέων·
790

κἀγὼ ʼνέκαψʼ· ὀβολοὺς γὰρ ᾠόμην λαβεῖν·

κᾆτα βδελυχθεὶς ὀσφρόμενος ἐξέπτυσα·

κᾆθʼ εἷλκον αὐτόν.

Βδελυκλέων

ὁ δὲ τί πρὸς ταῦτʼ εἶφʼ;

Φιλοκλέων

ὅ τι;

ἀλεκτρυόνος μʼ ἔφασκε κοιλίαν ἔχειν·

ταχὺ γοῦν καθέψεις τἀργύριον, ἦ δʼ ὃς λέγων.
795

Βδελυκλέων

ὁρᾷς ὅσον καὶ τοῦτο δῆτα κερδανεῖς.

Φιλοκλέων

οὐ πάνυ τι μικρόν. ἀλλʼ ὅπερ μέλλεις ποίει.

Βδελυκλέων

ἀνάμενέ νυν· ἐγὼ δὲ ταῦθʼ ἥξω φέρων.

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.) — 760 focus

Bdelycleon

760 Come, father, in the name of the gods, believe me!

Philocleon

Believe you! Ask me anything, anything, except one.

Bdelycleon

What is it? Let us hear.

Philocleon

Not to judge any more! Before I consent, I shall have appeared before Pluto.

Bdelycleon

Very well then, since you find so much pleasure in it, 765 go down there no more, but stay here and deal out justice to your slaves.

Philocleon

But what is there to judge? Are you mad?

Bdelycleon

Everything as in a tribunal. If a servant opens a door secretly, you inflict upon him a simple fine; 770 that's what you have repeatedly done down there. Everything can be arranged to suit you. If it is warm in the morning, you can judge in the sunlight; if it is snowing, then seated at your fire; if it rains, you go indoors; and if you don't rise till noon, 775 there will be no Thesmothetes to exclude you from the precincts.

Philocleon

The notion pleases me.

Bdelycleon

Moreover, if a pleader is long-winded, you will not be hungering and chafing and seeking vengeance on the accused.

Philocleon

780 But could I judge as well with my mouth full?

Bdelycleon

Much better. Is it not said, that the dicasts, when deceived by lying witnesses, have need to ruminate well in order to arrive at the truth?

Philocleon

785 Well said, but you have not told me yet who will pay my salary.

Bdelycleon

I will.

Philocleon

So much the better; in this way I shall be paid by myself. Because that damned jester, Lysistratus, played me an infamous trick the other day. He received a drachma for the two of us and went on the fish-market to get it changed 790 and then brought me back three mullet scales. I took them for obols and crammed them into my mouth; but the smell choked me and I quickly spat them out. So I dragged him before the court.

Bdelycleon

And what did he say to that?

Philocleon

Well, he pretended I had the stomach of a cock. 795 "You have soon digested the money," he said with a laugh.

Bdelycleon

You see, that is yet another advantage.

Philocleon

And no small one either. Come, do as you will.

Bdelycleon

Wait! I will bring everything here.

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.) — 760 focus

Bdelucleon: Come on, father, persuade me, by the gods!

760

Philocleon: What should I believe? Say whatever you want except one thing.

Bdelucleon: Of whom? Let me see.

Philocleon: not to judge. But this

Philocleon: Hades will judge before I will suffer.

Bdelucleon: but you, since you have rejoiced in doing this,

Bdelucleon: no longer step that way, but here.

765

Bdelycleon: staying right here, judge the slaves.

Philocleon: About what? Why are you talking nonsense?

Bdelycleon: the very same things as are done there;

Bdelucléon: because the wasp opened the door stealthily,

Bdelycleon: Vote a single penalty for this one.

Bdelycleon: But certainly, even there, he will sit there every time.

770

Bdelycleon: And these things are now reasonable, if it succeeds.

Bdelucleon: I shall catch [it] early in the morning, and it will roast in the sun.

Bdelycleon: but if it snows, sitting by the fire;

Bdeluclion: When it is raining, come in; and if it is still midday,

Bdelycleon: No one will bar you from the court by means of the railing.

775

Philocleon: This pleases me.

Bdelycleon: and besides this, if [he is] a law...

Bdelycleon: Let someone say it from a distance; wait without being hungry.

Bdelycleon: biting yourself and the one who is defending himself.

Philocleon: How then shall I be able to judge well?

Philokleon: just as before, still chewing on the matters?

780

Bdelyclēon: Much better, for it is said that this man,

Bdelycleon: 'Just like the jurors [are swayed] by lying witnesses.'

Bdelucléon: They only realized the matter after chewing it over.

Philocleon: 'How do you persuade me. But you are not yet telling that,'

Philocleon: From where will I receive the fee?

785

Bdelycleon: by me.

Philocleon: well,

Philocleon: For I will take it by myself, not with someone else.

Philocleon: for Lysistratos has done me most shamefully.

Philocleon: the jester. Having taken a drachma from me the day before yesterday

Philocleon: having come, he chopped up among the fish,

Philocleon: And then he put three saws on me.

790

Philocleon: And I lit the fire; for I thought I would receive an obol;

Philocleon: And then, having been disgusted and sniffing, I spat out.

Philocleon: And then I dragged him.

Bdelycleon: But what did he say in response to this?

Philokleon: What?

Philocleon: 'He said that I have a rooster's belly.'

Philocleon: 'You'll quickly get your money back,' he said.

795

Bdelycleon: Do you see that even this is, then, profitable for you?

Philocleon: Not at all small. But do what you are about to do.

Bdelycleon: Wait now; I will bring these things.

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

789. mvp-tlg0019-tlg004-sanjaya-com-eng1-38

Line 789

ἐλθὼν διεκερματίζετʼ ἐν τοῖς ἰχθύσιν,

The verb διεκερματίζετʼ (from κερματίζω, 'to cut into pieces' or 'to chop up') with the preposition ἐν ('among' or 'in the midst of') creates a vivid, grotesque image of the subject physically tearing apart the fish. This usage is characteristic of Aristophanic bodily humor and hyperbole, where the verb implies a violent, chaotic dismemberment rather than simple consumption, likely describing a gluttonous or frenzied feast scene.

790. mvp-tlg0019-tlg004-sanjaya-com-eng1-39

Line 790

κἄπειτʼ ἐνέθηκε τρεῖς λοπίδας μοι κεστρέων·

The noun λοπίς (lopis) is a rare hapax legomenon in Aristophanes, occurring here in the plural λοπίδας. While the word is generally glossed as 'splinter' or 'chip of wood,' in the context of the bee-simulation, it specifically denotes the wooden stings or darts used by the wasps (the chorus) to torment Philocleon, playing on the etymological connection to the wasp's sting (κέρας) and the physical reality of the 'wooden horses' or torture devices. The genitive κεστρέων (of the wasps) acts as a possessive, but the construction implies the wasps themselves are the source of these wooden projectiles, a metaphorical extension of their stinging nature into the domestic torture of the trial.

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Βδελυκλέων ἴθʼ ὦ πάτερ πρὸς τῶν θεῶν ἐμοὶ πιθοῦ. 760

Φιλοκλέων τί σοι πίθωμαι; λέγʼ ὅ τι βούλει πλὴν ἑνός.

Βδελυκλέων ποίου; φέρʼ ἴδω.

Φιλοκλέων τοῦ μὴ δικάζειν. τοῦτο δὲ Ἅιδης διακρινεῖ πρότερον ἢ ʼγὼ πείσομαι.

Βδελυκλέων σὺ δʼ οὖν, ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο κεχάρηκας ποιῶν, ἐκεῖσε μὲν μηκέτι βάδιζʼ, ἀλλʼ ἐνθάδε 765 αὐτοῦ μένων δίκαζε τοῖσιν οἰκέταις.

Φιλοκλέων περὶ τοῦ; τί ληρεῖς;

Φιλοκλέων τουτί μʼ ἀρέσκει.

Βδελυκλέων πρὸς δὲ τούτοις γʼ, ἢν δίκην λέγῃ μακράν τις, οὐχὶ πεινῶν ἀναμενεῖς δάκνων σεαυτὸν καὶ τὸν ἀπολογούμενον.

Φιλοκλέων πῶς οὖν διαγιγνώσκειν καλῶς δυνήσομαι ὥσπερ πρότερον τὰ πράγματʼ ἔτι μασώμενος; 780

Βδελυκλέων πολλῷ γʼ ἄμεινον· καὶ λέγεται γὰρ τουτογί, ὡς οἱ δικασταὶ ψευδομένων τῶν μαρτύρων μόλις τὸ πρᾶγμʼ ἔγνωσαν ἀναμασώμενοι.

Φιλοκλέων ἀνά τό με πείθεις. ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνʼ οὔπω λέγεις, τὸν μισθὸν ὁπόθεν λήψομαι. 785

Βδελυκλέων παρʼ ἐμοῦ.

Βδελυκλέων ὁ δὲ τί πρὸς ταῦτʼ εἶφʼ;

Φιλοκλέων ὅ τι; ἀλεκτρυόνος μʼ ἔφασκε κοιλίαν ἔχειν· ταχὺ γοῦν καθέψεις τἀργύριον, ἦ δʼ ὃς λέγων. 795

Βδελυκλέων ὁρᾷς ὅσον καὶ τοῦτο δῆτα κερδανεῖς.

Φιλοκλέων οὐ πάνυ τι μικρόν. ἀλλʼ ὅπερ μέλλεις ποίει.

Βδελυκλέων ἀνάμενέ νυν· ἐγὼ δὲ ταῦθʼ ἥξω φέρων.

Current edition Perseus

Bdelycleon 760 Come, father, in the name of the gods, believe me!

Philocleon Believe you! Ask me anything, anything, except one.

Bdelycleon What is it? Let us hear.

Philocleon Not to judge any more! Before I consent, I shall have appeared before Pluto.

Bdelycleon Very well then, since you find so much pleasure in it, 765 go down there no more, but stay here and deal out justice to your slaves.

Philocleon But what is there to judge? Are you mad?

Philocleon The notion pleases me.

Bdelycleon Moreover, if a pleader is long-winded, you will not be hungering and chafing and seeking vengeance on the accused.

Philocleon 780 But could I judge as well with my mouth full?

Bdelycleon Much better. Is it not said, that the dicasts, when deceived by lying witnesses, have need to ruminate well in order to arrive at the truth?

Philocleon 785 Well said, but you have not told me yet who will pay my salary.

Bdelycleon I will.

Bdelycleon And what did he say to that?

Philocleon Well, he pretended I had the stomach of a cock. 795 "You have soon digested the money," he said with a laugh.

Bdelycleon You see, that is yet another advantage.

Philocleon And no small one either. Come, do as you will.

Bdelycleon Wait! I will bring everything here.

Commentary

Line 789

Line 790

Stable identifiers

Βδελυκλέων

ἴθʼ ὦ πάτερ πρὸς τῶν θεῶν ἐμοὶ πιθοῦ.
760

Φιλοκλέων

τί σοι πίθωμαι; λέγʼ ὅ τι βούλει πλὴν ἑνός.

Βδελυκλέων

ποίου; φέρʼ ἴδω.

Φιλοκλέων

τοῦ μὴ δικάζειν. τοῦτο δὲ

Ἅιδης διακρινεῖ πρότερον ἢ ʼγὼ πείσομαι.

Βδελυκλέων

σὺ δʼ οὖν, ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο κεχάρηκας ποιῶν,

ἐκεῖσε μὲν μηκέτι βάδιζʼ, ἀλλʼ ἐνθάδε
765

αὐτοῦ μένων δίκαζε τοῖσιν οἰκέταις.

Φιλοκλέων

περὶ τοῦ; τί ληρεῖς;

Φιλοκλέων

τουτί μʼ ἀρέσκει.

Βδελυκλέων

πρὸς δὲ τούτοις γʼ, ἢν δίκην

λέγῃ μακράν τις, οὐχὶ πεινῶν ἀναμενεῖς

δάκνων σεαυτὸν καὶ τὸν ἀπολογούμενον.

Φιλοκλέων

πῶς οὖν διαγιγνώσκειν καλῶς δυνήσομαι

ὥσπερ πρότερον τὰ πράγματʼ ἔτι μασώμενος;
780

Βδελυκλέων

πολλῷ γʼ ἄμεινον· καὶ λέγεται γὰρ τουτογί,

ὡς οἱ δικασταὶ ψευδομένων τῶν μαρτύρων

μόλις τὸ πρᾶγμʼ ἔγνωσαν ἀναμασώμενοι.

Φιλοκλέων

ἀνά τό με πείθεις. ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνʼ οὔπω λέγεις,

τὸν μισθὸν ὁπόθεν λήψομαι.
785

Βδελυκλέων

παρʼ ἐμοῦ.

Βδελυκλέων

ὁ δὲ τί πρὸς ταῦτʼ εἶφʼ;

Φιλοκλέων

ὅ τι;

ἀλεκτρυόνος μʼ ἔφασκε κοιλίαν ἔχειν·

ταχὺ γοῦν καθέψεις τἀργύριον, ἦ δʼ ὃς λέγων.
795

Βδελυκλέων

ὁρᾷς ὅσον καὶ τοῦτο δῆτα κερδανεῖς.

Φιλοκλέων

οὐ πάνυ τι μικρόν. ἀλλʼ ὅπερ μέλλεις ποίει.

Βδελυκλέων

ἀνάμενέ νυν· ἐγὼ δὲ ταῦθʼ ἥξω φέρων.

Bdelycleon

760 Come, father, in the name of the gods, believe me!

Philocleon

Believe you! Ask me anything, anything, except one.

Bdelycleon

What is it? Let us hear.

Philocleon

Not to judge any more! Before I consent, I shall have appeared before Pluto.

Bdelycleon

Very well then, since you find so much pleasure in it, 765 go down there no more, but stay here and deal out justice to your slaves.

Philocleon

But what is there to judge? Are you mad?

Philocleon

The notion pleases me.

Bdelycleon

Moreover, if a pleader is long-winded, you will not be hungering and chafing and seeking vengeance on the accused.

Philocleon

780 But could I judge as well with my mouth full?

Bdelycleon

Much better. Is it not said, that the dicasts, when deceived by lying witnesses, have need to ruminate well in order to arrive at the truth?

Philocleon

785 Well said, but you have not told me yet who will pay my salary.

Bdelycleon

I will.

Bdelycleon

And what did he say to that?

Philocleon

Well, he pretended I had the stomach of a cock. 795 "You have soon digested the money," he said with a laugh.

Bdelycleon

You see, that is yet another advantage.

Philocleon

And no small one either. Come, do as you will.

Bdelycleon

Wait! I will bring everything here.