Aristophanes Wasps 903

Table of Contents

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

← Previous Next →

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.) — 891-1008b 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.) — 903 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

924. mvp-tlg0019-tlg004-sanjaya-com-eng1-47

Line 924

ὅστις περιπλεύσας τὴν θυείαν ἐν κύκλῳ
The phrase περιπλεύσας τὴν θυείαν is a comic hyperbole referring to the defendant's trial for the theft of sacred olive oil (or the olive trees themselves) from the sanctuary of Athena. The accusative τὴν θυείαν (the olive-tree) is the direct object of the periphrastic verb περιπλεύσας, implying a nautical journey around the tree, which is physically impossible and thus underscores the absurdity of the charge or the defendant's obsession with the case. This construction relies on the specific historical context of the 'Olive Oil' trial (likely alluding to the real trial of Cimon or a satirical fabrication thereof) where the defendant was accused of stealing sacred oil from the Acropolis, and the 'flight' around the tree is a metaphor for the legal maneuvering or the defendant's frantic defense.

937. mvp-tlg0019-tlg004-sanjaya-com-eng1-48

Line 937

Λάβητι μάρτυρας παρεῖναι τρύβλιον
The imperative λάβητι (from λαμβάνω) is a second-person singular aorist active imperative of the third (contract) verb class, exhibiting the Attic contraction of the stem vowel -ε- with the ending -τι to form -ητι. While this form is standard in Attic comedy, its occurrence here is syntactically notable because it governs a subjectless infinitive clause (παραῖναι) with an accusative object (τρύβλιον) that functions as the subject of the infinitive. The phrase τρύβλιον (a 'trouble' or 'trick', often referring to a specific legal maneuver or a physical object used in a trick) is used in a specialized legal context where the plaintiff is being told to 'take' (i.e., summon or produce) the witnesses as if they were a tangible object, reflecting the hyperbolic, comic reduction of legal procedure to physical possession. This construction highlights the play's satire of the hyper-litigiousness of the elderly, who treat the legal process as a game of physical objects rather than abstract truth.