Aristophanes Wasps 571

Wasps. Aristophanes. . 2026-09-08.

Current edition Experimental

Commentary (Sanjaya, generated; selected passages) (OCR draft) (English) (Source: pnadelofficial/aristophanes-sanjaya, commit c319590c139e5603e71f0699caa0663d823af8ad. Machine-generated source annotations retained; see Sanjaya import audit for coverage and limitations.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)
Σφῆκες Perseus (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 1. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.) — 526-728 focus
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.) — 576 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.) — 576 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

571. mvp-tlg0019-tlg004-sanjaya-com-eng1-22

Line 571

ὥσπερ θεὸν ἀντιβολεῖ με τρέμων τῆς εὐθύνης ἀπολῦσαι·
The phrase τῆς εὐθύνης ἀπολῦσαι presents a syntactically irregular genitive construction. While the verb ἀπολύω typically governs the genitive of the person or thing being released (e.g., ἀπολύειν τινος), the use of the genitive τῆς εὐθύνης (of the responsibility/indictment) with ἀπολῦσαι (to release from) creates a semantic tension: one is released from a person or a charge, but here the abstract 'responsibility' itself is the object of release. This construction likely reflects the specific legal idiom of the Athenian courts where εὐθύνη referred to the accountability of a magistrate or official, and the phrase implies 'to release me from the liability of the εὐθύνη' rather than a simple 'release from a charge.' The genitive here is not a standard partitive or objective genitive but a specific legal technicality where the abstract noun functions as the source of the obligation from which the subject is freed.