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Cario
singing, with appropriate gestures

290 And I too, threttanelo! I want to imitate the Cyclops and lead your troop by stamping like this. Do you, my dear little ones, cry, aye, cry again and bleat forth the plaintive song of the sheep and of the stinking goats; 295 follow me like lascivious goats with their tools out.

Wealth. Aristophanes. ed. Eugene O'Neill, Jr.. New York. 1938.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Current edition Experimental

Wealth (OCR draft) (English) (English (Anonymous; 1938 compilation). Migrated from Perseus legacy XML; source wording and notes retained. See TEI header and migration inventory.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)

Πλοῦτος Perseus (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 2. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907.) — 290 focus

Καρίων

καὶ μὴν ἐγὼ βουλήσομαι θρεττανελὸ τὸν Κύκλωπα
290

μιμούμενος καὶ τοῖν ποδοῖν ὡδὶ παρενσαλεύων

ὑμᾶς ἄγειν. ἀλλʼ εἶα τέκεα θαμίνʼ ἐπαναβοῶντες

βληχώμενοί τε προβατίων

αἰγῶν τε κιναβρώντων μέλη

ἕπεσθʼ ἀπεψωλημένοι· τράγοι δʼ ἀκρατιεῖσθε.
295

Translations (1)

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.) — 290 focus

Carion: And indeed, I shall wish for a Cyclops to be my foster-son.

290

Carion: mimicking and moving the feet in this way, too

Charon: to lead you. But come on, while calling out to our children again and again

Carion: and wounded sheep

Charios: the limbs of bleating goats

Charon: Follow, those with shrunken testicles; and you goats are drunk.

295

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

290. mvp-tlg0019-tlg011-sanjaya-com-eng1-1

Line 290

καὶ μὴν ἐγὼ βουλήσομαι θρεττανελὸ τὸν Κύκλωπα

The compound verb θρεττανελὸ is a unique Aristophanic coinage (hapax legomenon) formed from θρέττω (to rear/nourish) and ἀνέλω (to take up/destroy), creating a semantic tension between nurturing and consuming. While the exact etymology of the first element remains debated—some suggesting a connection to θρέμω (to feed) while others propose a dialectal or onomatopoeic origin—the verb functions here as a grotesque hyperbole, depicting the Cyclops not merely as a predator, but as one who rears his victims before devouring them. This lexical innovation exemplifies the comic poet's tendency to forge new compounds to achieve a specific, visceral comic effect that standard vocabulary could not sustain.

296. mvp-tlg0019-tlg011-sanjaya-com-eng1-2

Line 296

ἡμεῖς δέ γʼ αὖ ζητήσομεν θρεττανελὸ τὸν Κύκλωπα

The word θρεττανελὸ is a hapax legomenon in Aristophanic comedy, a compound noun formed from θρέττω (nurse) and ἀνελὼν (one who has lifted up), referring to a specific type of nurse who also acts as a midwife or caretaker of infants. In this context, the speaker uses it as a metaphorical epithet for the Cyclops, suggesting a grotesque inversion of the nurturing role, as the Cyclops is here being cast in the position of a 'nurse-lifter' who has been found and is now being sought. This neologism is a hallmark of Aristophanic comic invention, blending domestic vocabulary with mythological grotesquerie to create a unique and humorous image.

Aristophanes Wealth 290

ed. Eugene O'Neill, Jr.

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Commentary

Line 290

Line 296

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