Aristophanes Wasps 381

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Wasps. Aristophanes. . 2026-09-08.

Current edition Experimental

English (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.) — 403-525 focus
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.) — 381 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

395c. mvp-tlg0019-tlg004-sanjaya-com-eng1-9

Line 395c

ὥσπερ φωνή μέ τις ἐγκεκύκλωται.
The phrase ὥσπερ φωνή μέ τις ἐγκεκύκλωται contains a textual crux regarding the particle μέ. While the manuscript tradition is divided, most editors (following the reading of the Codex A) accept μέ as an emphatic particle attached to τις ('some kind of voice'), but others argue for a corruption of μέν ('on the one hand'), suggesting an elided counterpart clause that is missing. The verb ἐγκεκύκλωται (perfect middle/passive of ἐγκεκλω) is rare in this exact form, appearing only here in the extant corpus, and is used metaphorically to describe a voice that has 'encircled' or 'enveloped' the speaker, a usage that blurs the boundary between auditory perception and physical enclosure, characteristic of Aristophanes' comic hyperbole in this scene.

400. mvp-tlg0019-tlg004-sanjaya-com-eng1-10

Line 400

οὐ ξυλλήψεσθʼ ὁπόσοισι δίκαι τῆτες μέλλουσιν ἔσεσθαι,
The clause ὁπόσοισι δίκαι τῆτες μέλλουσιν ἔσεσθαι contains a striking instance of a relative clause of result (or content) dependent on the negative future οὐ ξυλλήψεσθʼ (you will not gather). The verb ξυλλήψομαι, here used transitively with an accusative of the thing gathered, takes a relative clause introduced by ὁπόσοισι (dative plural of ὅσος) to express the extent or quantity of the 'laws' (δίκαι) that will be brought before the court. This construction, where a relative clause of quantity functions as the object of a verb of gathering or collecting, is rare in Attic comedy and mirrors the syntax of Herodotean or epic usage, here repurposed for the comic exaggeration of the jury's future workload. The dative ὁπόσοισι is not a standard dative of advantage but a dative of reference within a relative clause of extent, creating a syntactic ambiguity that requires the reader to parse the relative pronoun as governing the future passive participle ἔσεσθαι rather than as a simple relative of identity.