The Wasps
The Wasps is the fourth in chronological order of the eleven surviving plays by Aristophanes, the master of an ancient genre of drama called 'Old Comedy'. It was produced at the Lenaia festival in 422 BC, a time when Athens was enjoying a brief respite from the Peloponnesian War following a one-year truce with Sparta.
As in his other early plays, Aristophanes satirizes the demagogue Cleon, but in The Wasps he also ridicules one of the Athenian institutions that provided Cleon with his power base: the law courts. The play has been thought to exemplify the conventions of Old Comedy better than any other play, and it has been considered to be one of the world's greatest comedies.
Plot
The play begins with a strange scene—a large net has been spread over a house, the entry is barricaded and two slaves, Xanthias and Sosias, are sleeping in the street outside. A third man is positioned at the top of an exterior wall with a view into the inner courtyard but he too is asleep. The two slaves wake and we learn from their banter that they are keeping guard over a "monster." The man asleep above them is their master and the monster is his father—he has an unusual disease. Xanthias and Sosias challenge the audience to guess the nature of the disease. Addictions to gambling, drink and good times are suggested but they are all wrong—the father is addicted to the law court: he is a phileliastes or a "trialophile." The man's name is Philocleon, and his son's name is the very opposite of this—Bdelycleon. The symptoms of the old man's addiction include irregular sleep, obsessional thinking, paranoia, poor hygiene and hoarding. Counselling, medical treatment and travel have all failed to solve the problem, and now his son has turned the house into a prison to keep the old man away from the law courts.Bdelycleon wakes and he shouts to the two slaves to be on their guard—his father is moving about. He tells them to watch the drains, for the old man can move like a mouse, but Philocleon surprises them all by emerging instead from the chimney disguised as smoke. Bdelycleon is luckily on hand to push him back inside. Other attempts at escape are also barely defeated. The household settles down for some more sleep and then the Chorus arrives—old jurors who move warily through the muddy roads and are escorted by boys with lamps through the dark. Learning of their old comrade's imprisonment, they leap to his defense and swarm around Bdelycleon and his slaves like wasps. At the end of this fray, Philocleon is still barely in his son's custody and both sides are willing to settle the issue peacefully through debate.
The debate between the Philocleon and Bdelycleon focuses on the advantages that the old man personally derives from voluntary jury service. Philocleon says he enjoys the flattering attentions of rich and powerful men who appeal to him for a favourable verdict, he enjoys the freedom to interpret the law as he pleases since his decisions are not subject to review, and his juror's pay gives him independence and authority within his own household. Bdelycleon responds to these points with the argument that jurors are in fact subject to the demands of petty officials and they get paid less than they deserve—revenues from the empire go mostly into the private treasuries of men like Cleon. These arguments have a paralysing effect on Philocleon. The chorus is won over.
Philocleon refuses to give up his old ways, so Bdelycleon offers to turn the house into a courtroom and to pay him a juror's fee to judge domestic disputes. Philocleon agrees, and a case is soon brought before him—a dispute between the household dogs. One dog accuses the other dog of stealing a Sicilian cheese and not sharing it. Witnesses for the defense include a bowl, a pestle, a cheese-grater, a brazier and a pot. As these are unable to speak, Bdelycleon says a few words for them on behalf of the accused. A group of puppies is ushered in to soften the heart of the old juror with their plaintive cries. Philocleon is not softened, but his son easily fools him into putting his vote into the urn for acquittal. The old juror is deeply shocked by the outcome of the trial—he is used to convictions—but his son promises him a good time and they exit the stage to prepare for some entertainment.
While the actors are offstage, the Chorus addresses the audience in a conventional parabasis. It praises the author for standing up to monsters like Cleon and it chastises the audience for its failure to appreciate the merits of the author's previous play. It praises the older generation, evokes memories of the victory at Marathon, and bitterly deplores the gobbling up of imperial revenues by unworthy men. Father and son then return to the stage, now arguing with each other over the old man's choice of attire. He is addicted to his old juryman's cloak and his old shoes and he is suspicious of the fancy woollen garment and the fashionable Spartan footwear that Bdelycleon wants him to wear that evening to a sophisticated dinner party. The fancy clothes are forced upon him, and he is instructed in the kind of manners and conversation that the other guests will expect of him. At the party, Philocleon declares his reluctance to drink any wine—it causes trouble, he says—but Bdelycleon assures him that sophisticated men of the world can easily talk their way out of trouble, and so they depart optimistically for the evening's entertainment.
There is then a second parabasis, in which the Chorus touches briefly on a conflict between Cleon and the author, after which a household slave arrives with news for the audience about the old man's appalling behaviour at the dinner party: Philocleon has got himself abusively drunk, he has insulted all his son's fashionable friends, and now he is assaulting anyone he meets on the way home. The slave departs as Philocleon arrives, now with aggrieved victims on his heels and a pretty flute girl on his arm. Bdelycleon appears moments later and angrily remonstrates with his father for kidnapping the flute girl from the party. Philocleon pretends that she is in fact a torch. His son isn't fooled and he tries to take the girl back to the party by force but his father knocks him down. Other people with grievances against Philocleon continue to arrive, demanding compensation and threatening legal action. He makes an ironic attempt to talk his way out of trouble like a sophisticated man of the world, but it inflames the situation further. Finally, his alarmed son drags him indoors. The Chorus sings briefly about how difficult it is for men to change their habits and it commends the son for filial devotion, after which the entire cast returns to the stage for some spirited dancing by Philocleon in a contest with the sons of Carcinus.
Note: Some editors exchange the second parabasis with the song in which Bdelycleon is commended for filial devotion.
Historical background
Cleon and the Athenian jury system
About two years before the performance of The Wasps, Athens had obtained a significant victory against its rival, Sparta, in the Battle of Sphacteria. Rightly or wrongly, most Athenians credited Cleon with this victory, and he was then at the height of his power. Constitutionally, supreme power lay with the People as voters in the assembly and as jurors in the courts, but they could be manipulated by demagogues skilled in oratory and supported by networks of satellites and informers. Cleon had succeeded Pericles as the dominant speaker in the assembly, and increasingly he could manipulate the courts for political and personal ends, especially in the prosecution of public officials for mismanagement of their duties.Jurors had to be citizens over the age of thirty and a corps of 6000 was enrolled at the beginning of each year, forming a conspicuous presence about town in their short brown cloaks, with wooden staves in their hands. The work was voluntary but time-consuming and they were paid a small fee: three obols per day at the time of The Wasps. For many jurors, this was their major source of income and it was virtually an old-age pension. There were no judges to provide juries with legal guidance, and there was no legal appeal against a jury's verdict. Jurors came under the sway of litigious politicians like Cleon who provided them with cases to try and who were influential in persuading the Assembly to keep up their pay. However it is not necessarily true that Cleon was exploiting the system for venal or corrupt reasons, as argued in The Wasps.
Aristophanes' plays promote conservative values and support an honourable peace with Sparta, whereas Cleon was a radical democrat and a leader of the pro-war faction. Misunderstandings were inevitable. Cleon had previously attempted to prosecute Aristophanes for slandering the polis with his second play The Babylonians, and though the legal result of these efforts is unknown, they appear to have sharpened the poet's satirical edge, as evidenced later in the unrelenting attack on Cleon in The Knights. The second parabasis in The Wasps implies that Cleon retaliated for his drubbing in The Knights with yet further efforts to intimidate or prosecute Aristophanes, and the poet may have publicly yielded to this pressure for a short time. Whatever agreement was reached with Cleon, Aristophanes gleefully reneged on it in The Wasps, presenting Cleon as a treacherous dog manipulating a corrupted legal process for personal gain.
Some events that influenced ''The Wasps''
- 431: The Peloponnesian War commenced.
- 426: Aristophanes won first prize at the City Dionysia with his second play, The Babylonians, and he was subsequently prosecuted by Cleon for being the author of slanders against the polis.
- 425: Athens obtained a significant victory against Sparta in the Battle of Sphacteria and Cleon successfully claimed responsibility for it.
- 424: Aristophanes won first prize at the Lenaia with The Knights in which he lampooned Cleon mercilessly.
- 423: Athens and Sparta agreed to a one-year truce. Aristophanes' play The Clouds came third.
- 422: The Wasps was performed at the Lenaia, winning second place.
Places and people mentioned in ''The Wasps''
Places
- Megara: a neighbour and historically a rival to Athens, it is mentioned in as the reputed origin of comic drama.
- Law Courts: Athens had ten law courts in 422 BC, of which these three are mentioned here by name: The New Court in , The Court at Lykos in and The Odeion in .
- Asclepieia: Temples dedicated to the god of healing, the one mentioned in was located near Athens on the island of Aegina.
- Delphi: One of the most sacred sites in Greece, it is said by Philocleon in to be the source of a fearful prophecy concerning himself.
- Scione: A city on the promontory of Chalcidice, it revolted against Athenian rule two days after the Athenian truce with Sparta and it was now under siege; this was the only fighting Athenians were engaged in at that time. Bdelycleon says in that he would rather serve there than guard his father.
- Byzantium: Originally captured from Persian forces by the Greeks in 478 BC, and subsequently taken from the control of Pausanias by the Athenians in 476, a garrison had been stationed there ever since its revolt from Athenian rule in 440-439. The Chorus of old jurors mention it in while reminiscing about their time as soldiers there.
- Samos: An island that had revolted from Athenian rule in 440 BC, it is mentioned in in reference to a Samian who had betrayed his own polis out of his reputed love for Athens and who had recently been acquitted of some charge.
- Thrace: A region of strategic significance in the Peloponnesian War, the Chorus mentions it in in relation to the impending trial of one of the 'traitors' there – both demes are mentioned in .
- Thymaitadoi: A village near the Piraeus, it was a source of rough cloaks that the unsophisticated Philocleon is unable to distinguish from the expensive cloaks worn in Sardis and woven in Ecbatana, as stated in .
- Paros: An island that Philocleon once visited for two obols a day – which was as close to becoming a diplomat as he ever got.
Poets and other artists
- Euripides: Frequently a target of Aristophanes' plays, the tragic poet is mentioned in as the butt of tired old jokes that are made by other comic poets. There are also mock-heroic references to his plays Bellerophon, Cretan Women and Ino in .
- Ecphantides: A comic poet of a previous generation known for his obscurity, he is referred to in by his nickname Capnias.
- Phrynichus: A celebrated tragic poet of an earlier generation, he is mentioned favourably several times by Philocleon and the jurors in . The first mention is in a comic, compound word which includes a reference to a popular song about Sidon written by Phrynichus. The tragic poet is mentioned in three other plays.
- Pindar: The great lyric poet of Boeotia is not mentioned here by name but one of his famous verses is absurdly quoted out of context in
- Philocles: A tragic poet, yet satirized by comic poets for a harsh style, he is said in to have an embittering influence on old men. He is mentioned again in Thesmophoriazusae and The Birds.
- Aesop: Then, as now, a source of instructive fables, he receives four mentions in and he is later mentioned in two other plays.
- Oiagros: A tragic actor, he is said in to have been acquitted in a trial after reciting verses from a play titled Niobe. Niobe was possibly a play by Sophocles that was performed shortly before Wasps. Alternatively Niobe was a play by Aeschylus, mentioned again later in The Frogs.
- Acestor Sacas: A tragic poet of foreign birth and a frequent target of comic poets, he is mentioned in as the father of one of Cleon's circle. He is mentioned also in The Birds.
- Alcaeus: The great lyric poet of Mytilene, he is not mentioned by name but he is the author of some well-known verses that Philocleon adapts to a scolion directed against Cleon in .
- Ariphrades: Possibly a comic dramatist and a student of Anaxagoras, he is mocked in this play in and in other plays for sexual eccentricities. His musician brother, Arignotus, is mentioned with him but not by name in The Wasps.
- Sthenelus: A tragic poet, whose verse was later considered by Aristotle to be lucid but undignified, he is mentioned in as the epitome of a man who is lacking something.
- Lasus: A poet from Hermione who lived in the latter half of the 6th Century, associated with the establishment of dithyrambic contests in Athens and credited with writing the first book on music, he is quoted in as the author of a banal statement: "It means little to me".
- Simonides: The famous lyric poet from Ceos, he is said by Philocles to have been the man to whom the above statement was addressed. He is mentioned in three other plays.
- Thespis: According to Athenian tradition, he was the first dramatist to write for an actor separate from the Chorus. He is mentioned in as typical of Philocleon's old-fashioned tastes.
- Carcinus: An Athenian general in 431, he was also a dramatist and a dancer. He is mentioned with his sons here in and in other plays. His sons danced in the exodos in this play in competition with Philocleon. Their performance is mocked by Philocleon and it is even mocked by the Chorus of a later play. One son, Xenocles, was a tragedian who later defeated Euripides at the City Dionysia in 415 but his abilities as a dramatist are ridiculed by Aristophanes in Thesmophoriazusae and The Frogs.
Athenian politicians and generals
- Cleon: The populist leader of the pro-war faction in Athens, he is the arch-villain in all of Aristophanes' early plays. We are assured in that Aristophanes won't make mincemeat of him again but promises mean nothing in a comedy and he receives more treatment in as well as numerous indirect mentions, notably as an untrustworthy dog.
- Theorus: An associate of Cleon, he is presented in as an ignoble flatterer. He is a target also in earlier plays.
- Alcibiades: Later known as a dashing general and a winning aristocrat, he was not yet a major public figure and here he is mentioned in only for his lisp. He was mentioned earlier in The Acharnians as the son of Cleinias and he is mentioned later in The Frogs.
- Amynias: A general this year, he was satirized by comic dramatists as effeminate and pretentious. Here he is mocked for gambling habits, long hair and his role in a diplomatic mission to Thessaly in . He is mentioned also in The Clouds.
- Nicostratus: Possibly the son of Dieitrephes and a skilful general mentioned by Thucydides, he is said in to call out from the audience about Philocleon's disease, identifying it as a form of 'hospitality'.
- Laches: A general who had led a small Athenian force to Sicily in 427 and who had proposed the one-year truce in 423, he is mentioned in and he appears as the good watchdog accused of stealing a Sicilian cheese, suggesting that Cleon was in fact intending to prosecute him for corruption.
- Thucydides: The political rival of Pericles, he is mentioned in and earlier in The Acharnians in relation to a trial in which slick lawyers took full advantage of his old age.
- Hyperbolus: A populist and eventually Cleon's successor, he is named in as an example of someone who cynically manipulates juries. He receives numerous mentions in other plays.
- Theogenes: A prominent politician often satirized by comic poets as a fat, greedy braggart, he is quoted in as somebody who abuses dung-collectors. He is also mentioned in later plays.
- Androcles: Another populist, often satirized in Old Comedy as poor and immoral, he was later influential in exiling Alcibiades. He is mentioned ironically in as an example of the kind of man who represents Athens on sacred, diplomatic missions.
- Antiphon: An orator and later a leader of the oligarchic government in 411 BC, he is named in as a hungry kind of man and as one of the sophisticated dinner guests abused by Philocleon.
- Phrynichus: A politician and later a leader of the oligarchy of The Four Hundred, he is a central figure at the sophisticated dinner party attended by Antiphon, Theophrastos, Lykon, Lysistratus, Bdelycleon, Philocleon et al., as stated in .
- Lycon: A little-known politician who later assisted in the prosecution of Socrates and whose wife Rhodia was often a target of comic poets, he is named here merely as another dinner guest with Phrynichus.
Athenian personalities
- Cleonymus: An associate of Cleon and frequently a target in other plays, he is mentioned in as the figment of a slave's dream, as a flattering patron of jurors and as the image of the image of the image of the hero Lycus, and each mention is in relation to a notorious incident in which he threw away his shield.
- Sosias: Unknown otherwise, he is mentioned in as a well-known tippler. However this could simply be the name of a character in the play accidentally transposed into the dialogue by an ancient scribe).
- Philoxenus: A notoriously effete catamite, he becomes the source of a misunderstanding in because his name is a pun for 'hospitable'.
- Pyrilampes: Plato's stepfather and a prominent personality in Periclean Athens, he is mentioned in as the father of Demus, a handsome young man whose name appears around Athens in amorous graffiti.
- Dracontides: He is named in as somebody awaiting trial and because his name is a pun for 'serpent'. Modern scholars have various theories about his identity and speculation has even been used to date a treaty between Athens and Chalcis.
- Proxenides: Philocleon would rather be Proxenides or smoke or the victim of a thunderbolt than be imprisoned at home any longer, as asserted in . He is mentioned as a braggart in The Birds.
- Gorgias: The famous teacher of rhetoric, he is named in as the father or teacher of Phillipus, a recent victim of irate jurors.
- Aischines: He is mentioned as an associate of Cleon, a synonym for smoke and a braggart in . He is mentioned also in The Birds.
- Euathlus: An associate of Cleon and a prosecutor of the aged Thucydides, he is said by Philocleon in to be a patron of jurors. Other less well-known prosecutors, Pheredeipnus are named in .
- Eucharides: A greengrocer immortalized with a brief mention in .
- Lysistratus: A high-society man-about-town who participated in the mutilation of the hermai in 415, he is mentioned in as a practical joker who passes off fish scales as coins and who also happens to be a sophisticated dinner guest. He receives mentions also in other plays.
- Cynna: A prostitute, her flashing eyes are said to be evocative of Cleon in .
- Morychus: A notorious gourmand who was possibly also a tragic poet, he is named in as emblematic of a pampered life and because his soldier's kit resembles a Persian gown. He is mentioned also in two other plays.
- Cleisthenes: A byword for effeminacy, he is frequently a target for jokes in other plays and appears as a character in Thesmophoriazusae. He is mentioned ironically in as another dignitary sent by Athens on a sacred diplomatic mission.
- Leogoras: The father of the orator Andocides, he was lampooned by comic poets for his wealth and his luxurious lifestyle. He is mentioned in as someone whose dinners are a benchmark of culinary opulence.
- Chaerephon: The loyal friend and disciple of Socrates, he appears as the summons witness for a female bread vendor and he is compared in to a sallow Ino clinging to the feet of Euripides. He receives mentions also in two other surviving plays.
- Pittalus: A doctor who is mentioned also in Acharnians, he is recommended by Philocleon in to one of the victims of his own drunken outrages.
Religious and historical identities
- Korybantes: Associated with ecstatic dancing in the worship of the Phrygian goddess Cybele, they are referred to in as examples of manic behaviour. They are mentioned also in later plays.
- Sabazius: Another Phrygian divinity associated with manic behaviour, mentioned here in and also in later plays.
- Heracles: A hero in myth, he is a stock joke for gluttony in comedy. He is mentioned in that capacity here in and he even appears as a gluttonous buffoon in two later plays, The Birds and The Frogs.
- Odysseus: A hero in myth, he is a proverb for cunning subterfuge, as indicated in .
- Dictynna: Originally a Cretan goddess of hunting, associated with Mount Dicte, she is evoked by Philocleon in as he chews on a net, possibly as a pun though she was in fact identified with Artemis, the goddess of hunting nets.
- Diopeithes: A religious zealot who once proposed a decree for the impeachment of atheists and astronomers, his name appears in as an ironic synonym for Zeus. He receives mentions also in two other plays.
- Lycus: An Athenian hero, possibly the son of Pandion, he is mentioned in because his shrine is adjacent to the court named after him.
- Cecrops: The mythical first king of Athens, he is invoked by Philocleon in as his defender against his son's slaves because they are foreigners. He is mentioned also in two other surviving plays.
- Hippias: A byword in Athens for tyranny, he is mentioned in that capacity here in and also in other plays.
- Eurycles: A prophet with abilities as a ventriloquist, he is mentioned in as the metaphor of a comic poet whose plays are produced in somebody else's name.
- Harmodius: A famous tyrannicide, he was a favourite theme for scolia, as here in . He is named also in three other surviving plays.
- Admetus: A legendary Thessalian king and the husband of Alcestis, he was the subject of a popular scolion, as in .
Foreign identities
- Brasidas: The leading Spartan general of the time, he is mentioned by the Chorus in as one of Bdelycleon's associates.
- Ephoudion: an athlete from Arcadia and a victor at the Olympics in 464 BC, he is said to have performed well in a recent contest against a much younger opponent, Ascondas, as mentioned in .
- Phaullus: A famous athlete who once commanded the only Italian ship at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC, he is said by Philocles in to have lost to him in court on a charge of abusive language.
- Penestes: Thessalian serfs, they are the benchmark of poverty, as indicated in .
Discussion
- The central figure, Philocleon, is a 'triumph of characterization';
- The jurors have been considered the most vividly realized Chorus in Old Comedy;
- The juror's son has been viewed as the most lifelike child in Greek drama.
''The Wasps'' and Old Comedy
The Wasps has been thought to exemplify all the conventions of Old Comedy at their best – structural elements that are common to most of Aristophanes' plays are all found in this play in a complete and readily identifiable form. The table below is based on one scholar's interpretation of the play's structural elements and the poetic meters associated with them.Elements | Lines | Metres | Summary | Comments |
prologue | 1–229 | iambic trimeter | dialogue setting the scene | conventional opening |
parodos | 230-47 | iambic tetrameter catalectic | Chorus enters escorted by boys | |
248-72 | Euripidean 14 syllables/line | dialogue between juror and boy | a quicker form of iambic rhythm | |
273-89 | complex meter | Chorus wonders about Philocleon | a strophe/antistrophe pair based on ionic metron but with many variations | |
290–316 | as before but simpler | dialogue between juror and boy | strophe/antistrophe, ionic but with fewer variations. | |
song | 317-33 | complex | solo lament by Philocleon | mainly choriamb to 323 then anapests , reflecting a change in mood. |
symmetrical scene | 334-64 & 365–402 | trochaic and anapestic tetrameter catalectic | angry dialogue between actors and chorus | each half beginning with trochaic tetrameter e.g.334-45 and ending with anapestic tetrameter e.g. 346-57 but with 1 anapestic pnigos added |
symmetrical scene | 403–460 & 461–525 | mainly trochaic tetrameter catalectic | denunciations and skirmish | trochaic tetrameters but with trochaic dimeters or 'runs' added. |
agon | 526–630 & 631–724 | songs and anapestic tetrameter catalectic | debate between father and son | strophe and antistrophe with iambic and choriambic metra; spoken sections in anapestic tetrameter ending in anapestic pnigoi |
song | 725-59 | anapests, iambs and dochmiacs | reflections on debate | anapestic lines 725-8, 736–42, 750–9, other lines in iambs and dochmiacs or |
episode | 760–862 | iambic trimeter | setting up a court at home | dialogue in iambic trimeter |
song | 863-90 | mostly anapests | prayer consecrating the new court | iambic trimeter in 868-9 and 885-6; short strophe and antistrophe largely in iambs; anapests in 863-7 and 875-84 |
episode | 891–1008 | iambic trimeter | the dog's trial | dialogue in iambic trimeter |
parabasis | 1009–14 | mixed | kommation | anapestic, iambic and trochaic – an unusual lead into a parabasis |
1015–59 | anapests | parabasis proper with pnigos | anapestic tetrameter catalectic ending in anapestic pnigos | |
1060–1121 | trochees | symmetrical scene | trochaic strophe and antistrophe ; epirrhema and antepirrhema in trochaic tetrameter catalectic | |
episode | 1122–1264 | iambic trimeter | preparations for dinner party | dialogue between actors in iambic trimeter |
second parabasis | 1265–1291 | trochaic | symmetrical scene | trochaic strophe but missing an antistrophe; epirrhema and antepirrhema featuring variation on trochaic tetrameter catalectic |
episode | 1292–1449 | mostly iambic trimeter | farcical consequences of the dinner party | dialogue in iambic trimeter but with trochaic passages spoken by the drunken Philocleon |
song | 1450–73 | mostly iambs and choriambs | Chorus congratulates father and son | first half of strophe and antistrophe iambo-choriambic lines , the second half more complex |
exodos | 1474–1537 | iambic and archilochean | Philocleon in dancing mode | dialogue in iambic trimeter ending in a dance in archilocheans |
Miscellaneous
- In 1909, the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams created popular incidental music for the play – see The Wasps.
Translations
- William James Hickie, 1853 – prose,
- Benjamin B. Rogers, 1924 – verse,
- Arthur S. Way, 1934 – verse
- Douglass Parker, 1962 – verse
- Alan H. Sommerstein, 1983 – prose and verse
- Unknown translator – prose:
- Peter Meineck, 1998 – prose
- George Theodoridis, 2007 – prose:
- The Atticist, 2018 – prose and verse with commentary:
- Moses Hadas: