Aristophanes Wasps 693

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.) — 729-759 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.) — 696 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.) — 696 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

693. mvp-tlg0019-tlg004-sanjaya-com-eng1-34

Line 693

ἤν τίς τι διδῷ τῶν φευγόντων, ξυνθέντε τὸ πρᾶγμα δύʼ ὄντε
The phrase δύʼ ὄντε is a striking example of the 'dative of the participle' functioning as a predicative dative, agreeing with the dative plural subject of the main clause (implied 'you two' or the addressees). While the participle ὄντε is in the dative plural, the numeral δύʼ is in the accusative neuter dual, creating a syntactic tension where the numeral agrees with the implied number of the subject rather than the case of the participle. This construction, where the numeral stands in the accusative to denote the 'amount' or 'number' of the subject while the participle agrees in case with the subject, is a marked feature of comic Greek that compresses the logic of 'being two' into a dative absolute-like construction without the explicit 'with' preposition, emphasizing the shared state of the two men as the condition for the action.