Humanitext Reader

Aristophanes · Wasps §457-526

Satire on Tyranny and Agreement on the Agon

Passage 7 of 20 · Greek

Summary

Bdelycleon drives off the Chorus with smoke and satirizes the public tendency to associate everything with tyranny. He proposes to prove through argument that his father, Philocleon, who is obsessed with court trials, is actually nothing but a manipulated slave, and they agree to hold a formal debate (agon) with the Chorus as arbiters.

§457ἀλλὰ δρῶ τοῦτʼ·
I am doing indeed.
ἀλλὰ καὶ σὺ τῦφε πολλῷ τῷ καπνῷ.
But you too, smoke them out with plenty of smoke.
§458οὐχὶ σοῦσθʼ;
Get gone!
οὐκ ἐς κόρακας;
To the crows with you!
οὐκ ἄπιτε;
Will you not go away?
παῖε τῷ ξύλῳ.
Strike with the wood!
§459καὶ σὺ προσθεὶς Αἰσχίνην ἔντυφε τὸν Σελλαρτίου.
And you, adding Aeschines the son of Sellartius, smoke him out too.
§460ἆρʼ ἐμέλλομέν ποθʼ ὑμᾶς ἀποσοβήσειν τῷ χρόνῳ.
Were we really going to scare you off at last?
§461ἀλλὰ μὰ Δίʼ οὐ ῥᾳδίως οὕτως ἂν αὐτοὺς διέφυγες, §462εἴπερ ἔτυχον τῶν μελῶν τῶν Φιλοκλέους βεβρωκότες.
But by Zeus, you would not have escaped them so easily, if indeed they had happened to have eaten of the songs of Philocles.
§463ἆρα δῆτʼ οὐκ αὐτὰ δῆλα §464τοῖς πένησιν, ἡ τυραννὶς §465†ὡς λάθρᾳ γʼ ἐλάνθανʼ ὑπιοῦσά με,†
Is it not indeed manifest to the poor, how tyranny was secretly creeping upon me?
§466εἰ σύ γʼ ὦ πόνῳ πόνηρε καὶ κομηταμυνία §467τῶν νόμων ἡμᾶς ἀπείργεις ὧν ἔθηκεν ἡ πόλις, §468οὔτε τινʼ ἔχων πρόφασιν §469οὔτε λόγον εὐτράπελον, §470αὐτὸς ἄρχων μόνος;
If you indeed, O wretched in your wickedness and long-haired like Amynias, debar us from the laws which the city established, having neither any pretext nor any witty argument, ruling all by yourself?
§471ἔσθʼ ὅπως ἄνευ μάχης καὶ τῆς κατοξείας βοῆς §472ἐς λόγους ἔλθοιμεν ἀλλήλοισι καὶ διαλλαγάς;
Is there any way that without a battle and this exceedingly sharp shouting we might come to words with one another and to reconciliation?
§473σοὐς λόγους ὦ μισόδημε καὶ μοναρχίας ἐραστά, §475καὶ ξυνὼν Βρασίδᾳ καὶ φορῶν κράσπεδα §476στεμμάτων τήν θʼ ὑπήνην ἄκουρον τρέφων;
Words with you, O people-hater and lover of monarchy, and associating with Brasidas, and wearing the fringed borders of cloaks, and keeping your beard unshorn?
§477νὴ Δίʼ ἦ μοι κρεῖττον ἐκστῆναι τὸ παράπαν τοῦ πατρὸς §478μᾶλλον ἢ κακοῖς τοσούτοις ναυμαχεῖν ὁσημέραι.
By Zeus, surely it would be better for me to stand aloof altogether from my father rather than to battle with such evils every day.
§480οὐδὲ μὴν οὐδʼ ἐν σελίνῳ σοὐστὶν οὐδʼ ἐν πηγάνῳ· §481τοῦτο γὰρ παρεμβαλοῦμεν τῶν τριχοινίκων ἐπῶν.
Moreover, you are not even in the celery nor in the rue; for we shall insert this from our three-choenix words.
§482ἀλλὰ νῦν μὲν οὐδὲν ἀλγεῖς, ἀλλʼ ὅταν ξυνήγορος §483ταὐτὰ ταῦτα σου καταντλῇ καὶ ξυνωμότας καλῇ.
But for now you feel no pain, but when an advocate pours these very same things over you and calls you co-conspirators.
§484ἆρʼ ἂν ὦ πρὸς τῶν θεῶν ὑμεῖς ἀπαλλαχθεῖτέ μου;
Would you indeed, by the gods, rid yourselves of me?
§485ἢ δέδοκταί μοι δέρεσθαι καὶ δέρειν διʼ ἡμέρας;
Or is it resolved for me to be flayed and to flay throughout the day?
§486οὐδέποτέ γʼ, οὐχ ἕως ἄν τί μου λοιπὸν ᾖ, §487ὅστις ἡμῶν ἐπὶ τυραννίδʼ ὧδʼ ἐστάλης.
Never indeed, not as long as any part of me is left, toward you who have marched against us for tyranny in this way.
§488ὡς ἅπανθʼ ὑμῖν τυραννίς ἐστι καὶ ξυνωμόται, §489ἤν τε μεῖζον ἤν τʼ ἔλαττον πρᾶγμά τις κατηγορῇ, §490ἧς ἐγὼ οὐκ ἤκουσα τοὔνομʼ οὐδὲ πεντήκοντʼ ἐτῶν· §491νῦν δὲ πολλῷ τοῦ ταρίχους ἐστὶν ἀξιωτέρα, §492ὥστε καὶ δὴ τοὔνομʼ αὐτῆς ἐν ἀγορᾷ κυλίνδεται.
How everything is tyranny and conspiracy to you, whether someone accuses a greater or a lesser matter, of which I have not heard the name for even fifty years; but now it is much cheaper than salted fish, so that indeed its name rolls about in the marketplace.
§493ἢν μὲν ὠνῆταί τις ὀρφὼς μεμβράδας δὲ μὴ ʼθέλῃ, §494εὐθέως εἴρηχʼ ὁ πωλῶν πλησίον τὰς μεμβράδας· §495ʼοʼὗτος ὀψωνεῖν ἔοιχʼ ἅνθρωπος ἐπὶ τυραννίδι. ʼ §496ἢν δὲ γήτειον προσαιτῇ ταῖς ἀφύαις ἥδυσμά τι, §497ἡ λαχανόπωλις παραβλέψασά φησι θατέρῳ· §498εἰπέ μοι, γήτειον αἰτεῖς· πότερον ἐπὶ τυραννίδι, §499ἢ νομίζεις τὰς Ἀθήνας σοὶ φέρειν ἡδύσματα; §500κἀμέ γʼ ἡ πόρνη χθὲς εἰσελθόντα τῆς μεσημβρίας, §501ὅτι κελητίσαι ʼκέλευον, ὀξυθυμηθεῖσά μοι §502ἤρετʼ εἰ τὴν Ἱππίου καθίσταμαι τυραννίδα.
If someone buys sea-perch and does not want sprats, immediately the seller of the sprats nearby says: 'This fellow seems to buy delicacies for the purpose of tyranny.' And if he asks for a leek as a seasoning for his anchovies, the vegetable-selling woman, squinting, says: 'Tell me, you ask for a leek; is it for the purpose of tyranny, or do you think Athens brings seasonings for you?' And as for me, yesterday when I went in at midday, a prostitute, because I ordered her to ride like a horseman, getting angry at me, asked me if I was establishing the tyranny of Hippias.
§503ταῦτα γὰρ τούτοις ἀκούειν ἡδἔ, εἰ καὶ νῦν ἐγὼ §504τὸν πατέρʼ ὅτι βούλομαι τούτων ἀπαλλαχθέντα τῶν §505ὀρθροφοιτοσυκοφαντοδικοταλαιπώρων τρόπων §506ζῆν βίον γενναῖον ὥσπερ Μόρυχος, αἰτίαν ἔχω §507ταῦτα δρᾶν ξυνωμότης ὢν καὶ φρονῶν τυραννικά.
For these things are sweet for them to hear, if even now I, because I want my father, having been freed from these early-rising-sycophantic-lawsuit-miserable ways, to live a noble life like Morychus, I bear the blame of doing these things as a co-conspirator and holding tyrannical thoughts.
§508νὴ Δίʼ ἐν δίκῃ γʼ·
By Zeus, justly indeed!
ἐγὼ γὰρ οὐδʼ ἂν ὀρνίθων γάλα §509ἀντὶ τοῦ βίου λάβοιμʼ ἂν οὗ με νῦν ἀποστερεῖς· §510οὐδὲ χαίρω βατίσιν οὐδʼ ἐγχέλεσιν, ἀλλʼ ἥδιον ἄν §511δικίδιον σμικρὸν φάγοιμʼ ἂν ἐν λοπάδι πεπνιγμένον.
For I would not even take bird's milk in exchange for the life of which you now deprive me; nor do I delight in rays or eels, but more sweetly would I eat a small lawsuit, stewed in a dish.
§512νὴ Δίʼ εἰθίσθης γὰρ ἥδεσθαι τοιούτοις πράγμασιν·
By Zeus, because you have been accustomed to delight in such matters.
§513ἀλλʼ ἐὰν σιγῶν ἀνάσχῃ καὶ μάθῃς ἁγὼ λέγω, §514ἀναδιδάξειν οἴομαί σʼ ὡς πάντα ταῦθʼ ἁμαρτάνεις.
But if you endure in silence and learn what things I say, I think I will teach you anew how you err in all these things.
§515ἐξαμαρτάνω δικάζων;
Do I err in judging lawsuits?
§515bκαταγελώμενος μὲν οὖν §516οὐκ ἐπαϊεις ὑπʼ ἀνδρῶν, οὓς σὺ μόνον οὐ προσκυνεῖς.
On the contrary, indeed, you are laughed at, though you do not perceive it, by men whom you all but worship.
§517ἀλλὰ δουλεύων λέληθας.
But you are a slave without realizing it.
§517bπαῦε δουλείαν λέγων, §518ὅστις ἄρχω τῶν ἁπάντων.
Stop speaking of slavery, I who rule over all things.
§518bοὐ σύ γʼ, ἀλλʼ ὑπηρετεῖς §519οἰόμενος ἄρχειν·
Not you, but you serve, thinking that you rule.
ἐπεὶ δίδαξον ἡμᾶς ὦ πάτερ, §520ἥτις ἡ τιμή ʼστί σοι καρπουμένῳ τὴν Ἑλλάδα.
Since then, teach us, O father, what honor indeed there is for you who enjoy the fruits of Greece.
§521πάνυ γε, καὶ τούτοισί γʼ ἐπιτρέψαι ʼθέλω.
Certainly, and I am willing to entrust it to these men.
§521bκαὶ μὴν ἐγώ.
And indeed I am too.
§522ἄφετέ νυν ἅπαντες αὐτόν.
Let him go now, everyone.
§522bκαὶ ξίφος γέ μοι δότε.
And give me a sword indeed!
§523ἢν γὰρ ἡττηθῶ λέγων σου, περιπεσοῦμαι τῷ ξίφει.
For if I am defeated by your argument, I will fall upon the sword.
§524εἰπέ μοι, τί δʼ ἤν, τὸ δεῖνα, τῇ διαίτῃ μὴ ʼμμένῃς;
Tell me, what if—what's-its-name—you do not abide by the arbitration?
§525μηδέποτε πίοιμʼ ἀκράτου μισθὸν ἀγαθοῦ δαίμονος.
May I never drink the wages of the good daemon, unmixed!
§526νῦν δὴ τὸν ἐκ θἠμετέρου
Now indeed, from our side,

Notes

  1. §461ἂν αὐτοὺς διέφυγες — This is the apodosis of a past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence, whose protasis is found in §462 (`εἴπερ ἔτυχον... βεβρωκότες`, "if indeed they had happened to have eaten..."). It expresses a hypothesis contrary to past fact.
  2. §465λάθρᾳ γʼ ἐλάνθανʼ ὑπιοῦσά — This is an idiomatic construction where the verb `λανθάνω` (to escape notice) is paired with the participle `ὑπιοῦσα` (creeping up). The addition of the adverb `λάθρᾳ` (secretly), which has the same meaning, emphasizes how extremely stealthily the tyranny was advancing.
  3. §502εἰ τὴν Ἱππίου καθίσταμαι τυραννίδα — The conjunction `εἰ` introduces an indirect question (meaning "whether") acting as the object of the verb `ἤρετο` (asked). The present indicative `καθίσταμαι` (I am establishing) is retained from the original thought, vivid despite the main verb being in the past tense.
  4. §513σιγῶν ἀνάσχῃ — This is a construction where the verb `ἀνέχομαι` (to endure, put up with) takes the participle `σιγῶν` (keeping silent) to mean "endure keeping silent" or "bear in silence."
  5. §523ἢν γὰρ ἡττηθῶ... περιπεσοῦμαι — This is a prospective conditional sentence representing a future expectation. The protasis `ἢν ... ἡττηθῶ` (if I should be defeated) uses `ἤν` with the subjunctive, while the apodosis `περιπεσοῦμαι` (I will fall upon) is in the future indicative, expressing strong resolve or certainty.

Cite this passage

Aristophanes, Wasps §457-526. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0019.tlg004.humanitext-grc2:457-526

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