by Aristophanes
15. Dercylus… alcoholic: Nothing else is known of Dercylus.
16. Nicostratus: Athenian general who served several times between 427 and 418. He was a friend of the well-known general Nicias, after whom the peace with the Spartans in 421 was named. Little else is known about him, and it is unclear why he is singled out here.
17. Philoxenus: Regularly mocked by comic playwrights as a passive homosexual; there is a pun on his name, which means ‘hospitable’ but could be interpreted as ‘one who enjoys sexual relations with guests/strangers/foreigners’.
18. yearns… pines: The language used to describe Philocleon’s desire for the law courts is similar to that used by Euripides to describe lovesick heroines such as Phaedra and Stheneboea.
19. new-moon: The first day of the new month, or new moon, was a day for religious festivities including incense burning.
20. O Demos… how I vote in you: The joke in the original exploits the rhyme between the name Demos and the word kēmos, which means a ‘voting urn’. Demos was well known for his good looks. The sophist Callicles is described, in Plato’s Gorgias, as being in love with him.
21. He scratches a long line… full damages: This passage itself is our only evidence for that particular voting method. Jurors, it seems, would etch a line on a wax tablet, a long one for the prosecution’s sentence or a short one for the defence’s.
22. Such is his madness… to court: Adapted from Euripides’ Stheneboea (fr. 665), where Stheneboea’s passion for Bellerophon is described as increasing the more she attempts to suppress it.
23. Temple of Asclepius: Asclepius was the god of healing. It was thought that those afflicted by disease, insanity or disability might be cured by being brought to one of his sanctuaries.
24. Philocleon… Bdelycleon: The names mean ‘lover of Cleon’ and ‘loather of Cleon’ and are not only preposterous but anachronistic: Cleon was born long after Philocleon, and would have been unknown, if alive, when Bdelycleon was named.
25. Figwood: There is a pun here on the word sūkinos meaning ‘from figwood’ and sūkophantes meaning an unscrupulous informer (literally, ‘a revealer of figs’).
26. son of Smoke: The name Capnias, ‘son of smoke’, was applied to those prone to obscure utterance.
27. Dracontides: There are four Athenians known by this name and it is unclear which is meant here.
28. Alas… drastic: Philocleon’s melodramatic expression of frustration, and Bdelycleon’s subsequent reply, are tragic in style.
29. first day of the month: Market day.
30. Why do you weep… groans: Bdelycleon’s concerns are tragic in style.
31. Odysseus clinging to your underside: In the Odyssey, Odysseus and his men escape from the Cyclops’ cave by hanging on to the undersides of some of his rams.
32. No-man: In the Odyssey, Odysseus tells the Cyclops his name is Metis, which means ‘no one’ or ‘no-man’, but is also the Greek word for ‘intelligence’. Two lines later Philocleon claims to be from Odysseus’ native island of Ithaca.
33. donkey: The Greek word klētēr means a donkey and someone who assists in serving a summons.
34. donkey’s shadow: To fight over a ‘donkey’s shadow’ was proverbial for fighting over a trivial cause.
35. Scione: City on one of the Chalcidean peninsulas which had revolted from the Athenian alliance in 423. Athens was still having trouble guarding it when Wasps was performed.
36. Phrynichus: Tragedian and an older contemporary of Aeschylus and known for his melodious lyrics. Like Aeschylus, he wrote a play about the Persian wars, and is seen here as a favourite of the generation who fought in the battle of Marathon (490).
37. sons… small boys: It stretches credibility that the old men of the Chorus, who must be at least eighty-six, even if they fought as mere eighteen year olds at Marathon, have young sons. By having their sons (rather than slaves) accompany them, Aristophanes indicates their poverty.
38. quick march: Despite this remark, the aged Chorus enter singing in slow, plodding iambic tetrameters to emphasize their sluggishness.
39. Laches is on trial today: Laches was a well-known soldier and politician. In Plato’s dialogue named after him, he is portrayed as a good-humoured man who admires Socrates. He served in Sicily, where he seems to have been suspected, at least by Cleon, of financial irregularity. The Chorus’s claim that Laches is going to be tried does not mean that such a trial actually took place.
40. the old songs: The song that follows is probably an imitation, in part, of Phrynichus’ style.
41. Father… but to weep: The Boy’s lines are tragic in language and style, and are largely adapted from Euripides’ Theseus, in which children sent from Athens to Crete, as victims for the Minotaur, lament their fate.
42. Oh with what anguish… votes on me: Philocleon’s song is based on a tragic model, most likely Euripidean, with humour arising largely from the incongruity between elevated style and mundane subject matter.
43. Dictynna: Cretan goddess of hunting, subsequently associated with Artemis. She is invoked here because her name is seen as being derived from the word diktuon meaning ‘net’, although it may equally be derived from Mount Dicte in Crete.
44. Diopeithes: Minor politician mocked for his fervent religiosity and his excessive dispensing of oracles. His name is also used because it means ‘trusting in Zeus’.
45. Lycus: A hero whose shrine stood beside the courthouse that Philocleon attends. It is not clear whether there were such shrines at all courthouses or just this one.
46. Smicythion… Tisiades: Genuine names. It is not clear who they are but they may have been contemporary informers.
47. Chremon…Pheredeipnos: Meaning ‘needy’ and ‘dinner-winning’, and probably made up.
48. Philippus… his trial: Not much is known about Philippus. He is called the disciple of Gorgias in the original; Gorgias was a famous rhetorician. In Birds, Aristophanes describes both men as hovering around the law-courts and eking out a living from baseless accusations. The suggestion here seems to be that he found himself on trial and was hoisted on his own petard.
49. envying tortoises for their hard shells: Xanthias expresses precisely such envy after he has been beaten by the drunk Philocleon later in the play (1292ff.).
50. Cecrops: Legendary king of Athens.
51. Aeschines: Portrayed by Aristophanes as a man who brags a great deal, particularly about wealth that he does not possess (see 1243–7). Little else is known of him.
52. long: Long hair was seen as a mark of aristocratic tendencies and sympathies.
53. long-haired… Brasidas: The most dynamic of Spartan generals at this time. Spartan society was fiercely militaristic, conservative and opposed to change. Sparta was ruled by a pair of kings and its dominant class was the aristocracy, which controlled a large population of metics and slaves. Men of the Spartan aristocracy wore distinctive clothing and had long hair. The jump from accusing someone of being pro-aristocratic to pro-Spartan was not a big one.
54. tyranny… fifty years: The last tyrant in Athens, Hippias, fell from power nearly ninety years earlier (510 BC).
55. Morychus: Renowned for his gourmandizing, he was also wealthy, had an interest in politics and wrote – or at least endeavoured to write – tragedies. Old Comedy was fond of ludicrous-and-inordinately-elongated compounds.
56. I shall fall upon this sword: Philocleon’s words are almost identical to those of Ajax in Sophocles’ play of the same name, uttered during a speech just before his suicide (Ajax 828).
57. pork: The word for pork (ta choiridia, literally, ‘piglets’), as always in Old Comedy, also suggests the female genitalia.
58. Oeagrus: Presumably a tragic actor; nothing else is known of him.
59. Niobe: A tragedy by Aeschylus.
60. Suppose a man dies…in court: If a man died without a male heir, his daughter would become an heiress. She then had to marry the nearest male relative who claimed her, and he would manag
e her father’s estate until any sons from that marriage came of age (and took over the estate). A father could, however, adopt a son, who would then have to marry his adoptive sister and thus become heir to the estate. Here Philocleon is suggesting a scenario in which other relatives are challenging a will in which such an adoptive heir has been named.
61. Evathlus: A contemporary prosecutor.
62. Toady-onymous: Cleonymus (see note 2).
63. Euphemius: Unknown, but no doubt of poor repute.
64. fish out… with her tongue: Some Athenians, it seems, carried loose change in their mouths (see also 786ff.). The daughter’s oral contact with her father is meant as amusing rather than sexually deviant.
65. A splendid performance…Isles of the Blest: The Chorus’s enthusiastic response to Philocleon’s speech is very similar to that of the Chorus in Women (433ff. and 459ff.). The Isles of the Blest (or Elysium) were the ancient Greek equivalent of paradise.
66. twelve million drachmas: Seventy-two million obols (one drachma = six obols).
67. No… not what to me: Both here and when he next speaks Philocleon uses a blend of ordinary and elevated language to express his profound apprehension.
68. victors of Marathon: The battle of Marathon (490 BC) was a major victory against the Persians. Any mention of it would have struck a deep chord with the Athenian public, particularly those who were alive at the time, rather like the Battle of Britain today.
69. Euboea: A large island north-east of Attica, of strategic importance to the Athenians. Euboea had a fractious relationship with the imperial Athens.
70. addressing PHILOCLEON: During this exchange the Chorus-Leader uses some tragic, or elevated, language and a metre associated with tragedy (dochmiac). The scenario itself, with the Chorus pleading urgently with a stubborn hero in a vain attempt to change his mind, is one that occurs in Sophocles’ Ajax and Oedipus Rex, and may have been seen as specifically Sophoclean.
71. glowering brow: Philocleon’s stern, silent posture imitates the prolonged silences of certain tragic heroes (e.g., Niobe and Achilles, in Aeschylus’ Niobe and Myrmidons respectively, and Ajax in Sophocles’ Ajax). The Greek word gruzein, while not tragic in itself, is used in Frogs 913 to describe the silences of Aeschylus’ Niobe and Achilles. The Chorus-Leader’s subsequent suggestion that Philocleon feels remorse for his earlier behaviour is similar to what the Chorus-Leader says in Sophocles’ Ajax; both cases involve the hero being in a state of stunned silence after emerging from delusional sickness.
72. Alas… would I be: Philocleon’s words are partly adapted from tragedy. The two closest passages are Euripides’ Alcestis 867 and Hippolytus 732.
73. Part… and let me pass: This is a shortened, adapted quotation from Euripides’ Bellerophon. In the tragedy, Bellerophon bids the ‘shadowy folds’ (perhaps foliage or clouds) part so that he can ascend to heaven on Pegasus. In the comedy, Philocleon is trying to part the ‘shadowy folds’ of his clothing so that he can commit suicide and make the journey down to Hades.
74. May death… before I do that: Quoted from tragedy, possibly Euripides’ Cretan Women (fr. 465).
75. a drachma between us… three fish scales: The jurors’ pay was three obols (small silver coins). Some Athenians were in the habit of carrying small change in their mouths (see note 64). Lysistratus was known for being fond of jokes and pranks. He was a man-about-town, and part of the crowd with whom Philocleon attends a symposium in the second half of the play. The idea that Lysistratus would have been an acquaintance of an ordinary old juror such as Philocleon is itself humorous.
76. Hecate… on our porches: Hecate was an Asiatic goddess associated with magic and infernal powers; she was also a deity of roads and travel. Accordingly, shrines of Hecate, like those of Apollo and Hermes, were often set up in front of houses.
77. O hero Lycus… grant you that: The joke is developed through the exchange. Philocleon remarks that he did not see the hero before now because the slave posing as Lycus has only just taken his place. Bdelycleon replies that he is as visible as Cleonymus, presumably because the slave is fat. Philocleon then mocks Cleonymus for losing his shield (‘equipment’) in battle, but may also be alluding to the lack of phallus (‘equipment’) in the slave’s costume; this was usual for minor characters.
78. Thratta: The name, meaning ‘from Thrace’, was a common one for slave-girls; it is the name Mnesilochus gives his imaginary slave as he enters the festival precinct in Women (289ff.).
79. Labes… wolfed the lot: The name Labes means ‘snatcher’. It is also recognizably similar to Laches, the man whom the Chorus mentioned earlier as facing trial on this same day (see note 39). The trial that follows is a transparent domestic version of Laches’ trial, which is itself fictional. Sicily was known for its cheeses but Labes’ theft of a Sicilian cheese alludes to Laches’ supposed misappropriation of public funds while in Sicily.
80. pig-pen… from scratch: The pig-pen belongs to Hestia, the goddess of the hearth. Bdelycleon suggests, jokingly, that taking the goddess’s property is sacrilege. Philocleon’s reply is a humorous retort. To ‘start from Hestia’ was a proverbial remark for starting from scratch, because in prayers to several gods it was customary to begin with Hestia. So by taking the pig-pen Philocleon suggests that he is in fact paying the goddess her due respect.
81. shrine of Apollo in the porch: It was common to have a shrine of Apollo Aguiatos (‘of the streets’) in front of Athenian houses, just as it was to have pillars with busts of Hermes and shrines of Hecate.
82. The Dog… Aexone: In court, the prosecutor and defendant were referred to by their names and district (deme) of origin. Cyon of Cydathenaeum and Labes of Aexone would have been readily recognizable allusions to Cleon and Laches respectively. Not only is Cleon’s name (Kleōn) phonetically close to the word ‘dog’ (kuōn) but he had acquired the sobriquet ‘The Dog’, after styling himself the ‘Watchdog of Athens’.
While the trial is ostensibly about Labes’ theft of cheese, this does not preclude direct mention of the real characters and situation to which it clearly alludes. A little later we find references to cheese and the embezzlement of money in the same breath, and references to the defendant both as a dog and a man.
83. figwood collar: Given to dogs who had bitten people to stop them doing so again.
84. siciliating: Comic word which may mean ‘eating in the (greedy) fashion of a Sicilian’. Sicily was known for its lavish banquets.
85. gnawing plaster off the cities: Cheeses were often encased in plaster to keep them fresh.
86. Thucydides… his trial: Not Thucydides the historian but a major politician of the same name. He was the main adversary of Pericles in the 450s and 440s until he was banished by ostracism in 443 (for a decade). Sometime after his return, he was on trial for an unknown charge but was, it seems, unable to speak when required to defend himself.
87. He is a good dog… play the harp: Bdelycleon’s strategy satirizes practice in court. He avoids, as far as possible, referring to the charge, emphasizing instead the defendant’s positive qualities, even though they have no direct bearing on the case. He also seeks to obtain sympathy by saying that he ‘never learnt to play the harp’ (i.e., that he did not receive a privileged education).
88. I feel myself softening… won over: Philocleon’s response resembles his earlier reaction during the debate with Bdelycleon (696–7 and 713–14), where he also finds himself being persuaded against his will.
89. with a family of puppies: This also satirizes the practice in court of bringing in the distressed relatives and friends of the defendant to elicit the jurors’ sympathies.
90. how did it go?: In keeping with the surreal nature of the whole scene, Philocleon is prepared for either result, even though he is the only juror and (thinks he) has voted ‘guilty’.
91. Father… I am no more: The exchange resembles a passage in Euripides’ Andromache (1076–7), where the aged Peleus collapses, exclaiming that he is ‘no
more’, after he hears of the death of his grandson Neoptolemus, which he believes to signify the end of his bloodline; the Chorus then urges him to lift himself up. Here, Bdelycleon bids his father get up when he collapses, exclaiming that he is ‘no more’, after he hears the unexpected verdict, which he believes to signify his own demise according to both the prophecy in 160 and his oath in 523.
92. How can I bear… just did: Philocleon expresses these sentiments in an unusually sober earnest style and tone.
93. Hyperbolus: He entered politics from an early age and was prominent in the mid 420s. He was first a prosecutor and then a demagogue, like Cleon. He was the primary target of plays by other comic playwrights but not, as far as we know, Aristophanes. While Cleon was mocked for his link with the leather trade, Hyperbolus was berated for his lamp-making business. He was ostracized in 417 and murdered on Samos in 411.
94. in earlier days: The start of a description of Aristophanes’ early career. The remark that he initially worked ‘like a ventriloquist’ suggests that he wrote passages, or parts of plays, for other playwrights before his first complete play (Banqueters in 427). His description of himself as ‘Driving a team of Muses of his own’ seems to refer to the three plays written by him but produced by his friend Callistratus, namely Banqueters, Babylonians and Acharnians. Aristophanes ‘first staged a play himself with Knights in 424.
95. greatest monster in the land: Cleon. Aristophanes likens himself – as one who confronts Cleon – to Heracles, the mythical vanquisher of monsters par excellence. The description of Cleon as ‘Jag-toothed’ is based partly on descriptions in poetry of Cerberus (the three-headed dog guarding Hades, who was captured by Heracles). The comparison of Cleon with Cynna works on several levels, see following note.
96. Cynna: Renowned prostitute. Her name, Kunna, is the feminine form of Kuōn, ‘The Dog’, which was Cleon’s soubriquet. Kuōn was also the name of the Dog-star, which was visible in the hottest part of summer and was believed to emit harmful rays.
97. Jag-toothed… unwashed balls: These lines (1030–37) abusing Cleon in no uncertain terms occur in almost identical form in Peace 752–9, produced a year later, shortly after Cleon’s death.