1985 - Konstan, D. - The Politics of Aristophanes' Wasps

8/19/2019 1985 - Konstan, D. - The Politics of Aristophanes' Wasps

1/21

merican Philological ssociation

The Politics of Aristophanes' WaspsAuthor(s): David KonstanSource: Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974-), Vol. 115 (1985), pp. 27-46Published by: The Johns Hopkins University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/284188 .

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2/21

TransactionsftheAmerican

hilological

ssociation

15

1985)

27-46

THE

POLITICS

OF ARISTOPHANES' WASPS

DAVID

KONSTAN

Wesleyan

niversity

Mypurposenthispaper s to showhowAristophanes'

Wasps

is politi-

cal.

I

shall

rgue

hat

he

complex

f

traits

y

which

he

major

harac-

ters nd the chorus re

constructed,

nd which

nables

he

movement

of the

plot, xpresses

specific

olitical

onception

f

the role of

the

courts

n

Athens. shall not seek

to

determine,

n the first

nstance,

whether hance

okes or

remarks

may

betray

he

author's

wn

voice

or

opinions.

Rather, propose

o show that

political

r

ideological

perspective

n

the court

ystem

s

implicit

n the basic

narrativend

dramatictrategies-whatmaybe called the deep structure-ofhe

Wasps.

It

has

frequently

een observed

hat he

Wasps

falls nto wo

parts.

The

initial

ction s built n

a

straightforwarday upon

the

formula

of containment:ll else

having

failed,

Bdelycleon

as

locked his

fa-

ther n

the house and

placed slaves to

guardhim, while

Philocleon

makesvarious

ttempts

o

escape.1

The

situation

ends

tself

o

farce,

which

Aristophanes

arieswith

horal

ong and

theformal

ebate

of

the

agon. The

containment

atterns

a

vehicle

for the

characteriza-

tionof Philocleon nd his son. Philocleon's assionfor the courts-

to

beginwith

him-is

represented

s

something uite

differentrom

the

motivation f

any

other

comic

protagonistn

Aristophanes.

hi-

locleon s

introducedo

the

audience s

sufferingrom

strange

is-

ease

(noson

allokoton

nosei,

71), a

descriptionhat s

fixed

by repe-

tition; oward he

end of

the play though

n

another

ontext)he

is

called

downright

ad

(manias arche, 1486).2 The idea

of sickness

r

insanitys reinforced

y the

suggestion

t

thevery

beginning f the

playthat hebeingwithinhehouse is somekindofdangerous eastor monster

knodalon,

4). As forthe natureof

Philocleon's

esire,

I

Citationsf the

Waspsare

according

o thetext f

DouglasM.

MacDowell,

d.,Aris-

tophanes

Wasps

Oxford

971),

unless

therwise

ndicated. n

this

kind f

ack-in-the-box

farce,

ee

MacDowell d vv.

139-229, .

149.

2

In

addition o

the

passages

oted n

the

text, f.,

n

disease:

7, 80,

87, 114,

651; on

madness: 44.

See

also K.

J.

Dover,

Aristophanic

omedy

Berkeley

972) 127;

Lutz

Lenz,

Komik

nd

Kritikn

Aristophanes'

Wespen',

Hermes

108

1980)

39-40.


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3/21

28 David Konstan

it

is described s

a

form

f

er6s,

he

strongest

erm n Greekfor

n

obstinate nd unruly assion (89, 753),

and the

term

philliast is

coined o name t (88). It is clearwhatAristophaness depictingere:

an

obsession.

Among he surviving lays f Aristophanes,hen, he

Waspspre-

sentsuswith unique nstance

f

a type

o whichwe can

anachronisti-

cally pply heRenaissanceabelof a humor.3t may

be worth eflecting

that hehumor ad a special unctionn a kind f

comedy

hat

was

self-

consciouslyatirical, or t is by its satirical pirit, believe,thatthe

Wasps, nd two otherAristophanicomedieswritten

bout the same

time s the Wasps

Knights,

24; Clouds, 23), are set off rom

what

we

may allthe utopian omedies.4t is the narrowingle-mindednessf a

passion hatmarks hehumor.

A

desire orpeace and plenty,

r

for he

restorationf civicand poeticdecorum, s in the Frogs,however n-

tense,willnot yield

humor

nless t is represented

s a pureobses-

sion,detached,n the ast nalysis, rom he

acknowledgedublic

alue

of

ts goal. Aristophanesrdinarilyhose not to make uch motives he

subject

f

his comedy. hathe did so in respect o

a

passion

or

he aw

courts s an indicationf his ntentions.5

3

In

English

enaissance

omedy,

he

figure f

the humor s examined

xhaustively

n

Ben

Jonson'sveryMan in

His

Humour

1598),

andEvery

Man Out of His Humour

1599);

comedies f humours

re

those

in

which

achcharacter

s

a

type

ominated

y

ruling

passion r

obsession,

Michael

Jamieson,

Introduction,

en

Jonson: Three

Comedies

(Harmondsworth

966)

10.

Jonson

abelled

isearly lays,

n which he

ype

f

the

humor

wasparamount,

comical

atires.

4

Broadly peaking,

classify

s

utopian

omedies

he

Acharnians,

Peace, Birds,

Lysi-

strata,

Ecclesiazusae,

ndFrogs.For

the dea, ee Jean

Claude Carriere,

e

Carnaval et la

politique:

ne

introduction

la

comedie

recque,

Annales itteraires

e

l'universitee Besan-

con212 (Paris1979)85-110;Paul Handel,

ormen ndDarstellungsweisennderaristopha-

nischen

Komodie

(Heidelberg

963) 226-27;

Karl

Reinhardt,

Aristophanes

nd

Athen,

Europaische

evue

14 (1938)

754-67

=

Tradition ndGeist:

Gesammelte

ssays

zur

Dichtung

(Gdttingen

960)

257-73,esp.

263-65;

F.

Richter,

ie Frische und

der

Typ

der

aristopha-

nischen

omodie

Diss.

Frankfurt

933).

5 In

differentays,

rnst-Richard

chwinge,

Kritik

nd

Komik:

Gedanken

u

Aris-

tophanes'

Wespen, nDialogos: Fur

Harald

Patzer um65.

Geburtstag,

dd.

Justus obet,

Rudiger

eimbach, nd Ada

B.

Neschke-Hentschke

Wiesbaden 975)

35-47,

and Klaus-

Dietrich

och,Kritischedee

and

Komisches

Thema:

Untersuchungenur

Dramaturgie nd

zum

Ethosder

Aristophanischen

omodie

Bremen 965)

74-79

=

Jahrbuches

er

Wittheit

u

Bremen

(1965)118-23,have raised hequestionf therelationshipetween hecritical

or

satirical

hrustf

Aristophanic

rama,

nd

the

utonomous

omic

lementsn

the

plays.

Schwinge, ith

pecial

referenceo

the Wasps,

locates

the

division

etween he

two

moods

or momentsn

the

structuref the

play,

which

roceeds, y

way

of

a

paratragic

conversionn

the part

f

Philocleon, rom

political

ritique f

the ury

ystem o

the

exemplificationf a

bomolochusype, ow

reduced o an isolated

nd

purely rivate

ig-

ure. The

crucial

hift ccurs

n the agon;

after

hat,

delycleonan

indulge

is father's

passion,

ow

reduced o a

Privattick, ith he

mock-trialn

his own

home

see esp.

pp.

41-42).




4/21


5/21

30

David

Konstan

has

kidnapped

rather

s a lovesick

youth

with stern

ather

alks

n

much ater

omedies. 9

Ifyou'llbe nicetomenow, s soon asmy on'sdead 'll redeem

you

from

our

wner, iglet,

nd

have

you

as

a

concubine. s

it

is, I

don't

have control ver

my

own

money;

'm

young,

you

see,

and

hedged

n

prettytrictly.

t's

my

on who

keeps

n

eye

on

me,

and

he's

a

hardman

and a real

kinflintnto

he

bargain.

That's

whyhe's so

afraid

'll

go

[to]

the

bad;

I'm

the

only

ather

he'sgot.

Philocleon

akeshis

dependent

egal

status

s

license o

behavechild-

ishly.

onventionally,

t

s

adults

who

have

a

responsible

osition

n

the

community,nd arethus xpectednd nclinedorepresentnd defend

its

norms.

oung

men,

who follow

esire

n

despite

f

aw,

are

not

yet

full

members f

society,

nd

are,

accordingly,

ess

nhibited

y

tsrules.

In

New

Comedy,where uch

youths

lourish,

t s

presupposed

hat

hey

some

day

will be.

This

temporal

ector,

by

which

the

young

must

mature nd

assume

their

roper tation

n

the

community,

onditions

the

nature f

the

tension

etween

athers

nd

sons, and

renders

os-

siblethe

anticipated

esolution

f

the comic

ension,

which

s

expressed

as a reconciliationetween enerations.ons are,in the final nalysis,

heirs,

who

will,

t the

right

ime,

ome

into

their

patrimony,

patri-

mony hat

ncludes

nd

rests

ponthe

rightsnd

duties fthe

ocialized

adult.

Philocleon, n

contrasto

this

new

comic

pattern,

as no

public

status

o

grow

nto

save

thatof

retired

entleman f

leisure,

without

responsibilityn

the

political

ommunity.

his

s, I

imagine,

mong

he

reasons

why

he

play nds

in

an

antinomian

oment

ather

han

n a

resolutionhat

ffirms

he

social

order.

t also

puts nto

question

ny

interpretationf the play, uchas Whitman's,hatmakes ts theme

education, or

education hould

mean

preparationor

responsibility.'0

When

the

young

iscipline

he

old, t s

not a

matter

f

moral

progress

but

change

f

social

order.

We

may

observe

hat

he

nstancesn

New

Comedy

f

an

errant

enex,

s in

Plautus'

Asinaria,

asina,

or

Merca-

tor, re

not

really

nalogous

o

the

Wasps, or

here he

amorous

lder

is

restored

ohis

proper

tation,

ndin

eachcase,

significantly,

here s

a

wife o

act n oco

arentis.

As a juror,however, hilocleon etains n important easure fsocial uthority,

nd,from

ne point

f

view,

his

son's

efforts

o

dissoci-

9

Dover

(above,

note 2)

122;

the

translation

f

verses 1351-59

that

follows

s

Dover's.

W.

J.

M.

Starkie,

The

Wasps

of

Aristophanes

London

1897),

quotes

the

scholiast d

1355:

dis

paides

hoi

gerontes.

10

Whitman

(above,

note

7) 144

followed

by

Vaio

(below, note

23) 335

and

Lenz

(above,

note

2)

32-43,

who

develops

the

theme

most

fully.




6/21

The

Politics f

Aristophanes'Wasps 31

ate

himfrom he

courtsmay

be construeds an

attempt

o make

Philo-

cleon's

retirement

omplete

nd

consistent.

owever

generous

Bdely-

cleon'sintentiono support isfathermay be, itwhollybolishes he

old man's

ndependence,

nd

Philocleon

s clearthat

he

does

not

want

that. Dramatically,

here

s

an

implicitogic

at

work,

ccording

o

which

Philocleon, aving ivenup

the

power

ver his

own

household

and

surrendered

o the dominion

f his

son,

becomes ike an

adoles-

cent,wilful

nd subject

o an

arbitraryassion,

nd

this

very

haracter-

ization orroborates

he

sense

that

Philocleon

s

unfit o

perform

he

responsible utiesofa

juror.This

logic

has its roots

n

the

deological

premisehat hecity-state

s

an

association

f

heads

of

household,

hose

who are, n Greekterms, yrioiver their ikos, ndthat, ccordingly,

old

men

who

have

relinquished

uthority

n

domestic ffairs re no

longer uited

o

preside

ver

affairs

f

state.

Much of what

eems

silly

or

corruptn

the

pleasures hatPhilocleon erives t

court

nvolves

childish

esirefor

flattery548-630)

that

ransparentlyetrays

he

pa-

thetic elf-importancef the weak and

helpless. delycleon

ill

expose

his

father's retensions

s

a

servile ependency

pon

Cleon and other

demagogues,

ut

t

s importanto

recognize

hathis

plan

for hilocleon

offers imonly change fmasters,t least until hecomedy akes

newdirection

n

the

concludingpisodes.12

Of

course,Bdelycleonoes

not think o

suggest

hatyoungermen,

or

legally

esponsible ouseholders,

hould

take over

the role

of

di-

casts.13 s a

number

f

critics

ave

pointed ut,

Bdelycleon

oes not

expose

the

faults

r

inadequacies

f

thecourt

ystem

n

order

o recom-

mend

remedies, ome

of

which,given

the

arguments e

employs,

mightwellrun counter o

views

that

may be plausibly

ttributedo

Aristophanes imself,

s in thematter f pay for

urors.14

hus, who

willreplace he old urorsonceBdelycleonersuades hem o retire s

no

concern

f

his.

Within

he play,

which

o

some extent ndoubtedly

reflects

he socialreality,he courts

re treated s

an oldman's forum.

As such,

however,

hey re also representeds

an

institutionf the

relatively

owerless,

powerlessnesshat s

symbolized y a waning

vigor f

bodyand mind,but which

lso

correspondso an outmoded

way of

life characteristic,o

Aristophanes

uggests, f a generation

whose ime

has

nassed_

11

Bdelycleon's

ntentions:

36-40,

1004-6, cf.

478-79,

506,

720-24;

Philocleon's

e.

fusal:

41,cf.

612-18.

12

Cf.

784-85,

where

hilocleon

onsents o

receiving is

wages

misthon)rom

is son

On the

Athenian

ttitude

oward

ages,

ee G. E. M.

de Ste.

Croix,The

Class

Struggle

the

Ancient reek

WorldIthaca,

N.Y.

1981)

182-91; on

surrenderf

kyriotes,ee

Mac-

Dowell d

613.

13

Cf.

Dover

above,

note

2) 128.

14

See

Lenz

(above,

note2) 25

for

urther

iscussion.




7/21

32

David

Konstan

This

opposition

f

generations,

n

a

sense that

s socialrather

han

personal

r

archetypal,

s

presented

hroughontrasting

raits f

charac-

ter.While t is only n thecase of Philocleonhathis commitmento

the

courts s

represented

s

an

addiction

r full-blownbsession

we

shall

consider

he

reasons

for this

presently),

e shares the

uror's

temperamentith he old men

who

make

up

the chorus

f the

Wasps.

Their ld-fashionedastofmind

s indicated

y

a

preference

or

Phryni-

chus,

nd

for raditionalrt

forms

n

general,

s

well s

by

their

isposi-

tion to reminisce bout

campaigns

n

the Persianwar-Aristophanes'

benchmarkor

he good

old

days-and

other

arly

ampaigns.15

ut the

testy ombativenessf

Philocleon nd the

chorus,

heir

proudanger

whicil s so intimidatingo those who must plead their ase before

them,

nd a

rough-and-ready

thic

hat

an condone rankishhefts

nd

candidly elfish ehaviorwith

no

seeming wareness f the threat

t

might ose

to civic

olidarity,re also

signs

f

theancient ode or

style.

A

proper

nderstandingf these traits

will put the

character f the

jurors

n

a new

perspective

nd

dispel ertain

misapprehensions

oncern-

ingPhilocleon's ature s

well.

Certainlyhe most

noticeable

eature

n

the temperamentf

the

dicasts s theirharp emper.he term rge,which ike heEnglishword

temper

was moreor less obsolete n

the sense of

temperamentnd

normallyonnoted

nger,

s

applied

o

them dozen

times

r

so,

along

withvarious

ynonymous

xpressionsike

chole

bile ), menos,

nd

thymos.'6ords r prefixes

enoting

cerbity,oughness. r plain

rasci-

bility estify

o their

arsh

pirit,s do

images fknitted rows,

ooking

daggers

literallymustard,

ardama),ating ne's

heart ut,

barking

outcries,ndnettles.'7

may ppear o be

belaboringheobvious:

mong

15

Phrynichusthetragedian):19-20,269-72,1490,1524 on 1490, ee E. K. Borth-

wick,

The

Dances

of

Philocleonnd

the

Sons

of

Carcinusn

Aristophanes'

Wasps,

CQ

n.s.

18

[19681

4-45);

traditionalrt

forms:

18-19,

1479-81.

Campaigns:

f.

236,

where

the

ction

t

Byzantium

resumably

vokes

he

Great

War,

specially

n

ight

f

Xanthias'

image f

Persian ttackn

11-12; cf.

lso 355,

the

ubjugation

f

Naxos,

which

ccurred

somewhereround

70

B.c.;

439, where hilocleon

aments is

defeat t the

hands

f

barbarians

his laves re the

mmediate

eference,

ut

suspect

here

s an

implicit

istor-

ical

allusion s

well);

the

referenceo

Athens'

ole n

repelling

he

barbarians

t

1077-

1101;

note lso

the

pun

on

the

great

ing

t

1124,

Philocleon's

uspicion

f

Persian

ttire

in

1136-38,

nd

Bdelycleon's

eferenceo

Marathon

n

711.

16

Orge includingormsftheverb,orgizo): 23,243,404,424,425,431, 560,574,

646,

727,

883,

1083;

chole:

03; menos:

24; thymos:

67,648.

17

OXys:

226

and 407, of

the

wasps'

ting;

ompounded ith

hymos:

06,

455,

501;

with

kardia,

30; cf.

lso

471,

1082,

1105,

1367;drimys:

46,

277.

Toughness:

rinodes,

83,cf.

877;

dyskolia:

82, 942,

1105; cf. 1356.

Knitted

brows:

655;

blepont6n

ardama,

455; con-

suming neself:

83-87,

tc.;

barkingries:

98,

226,

415,

1311,

f.

596

of

Cleon;

nettles:

884. n

general,ee the

hapter

n

La

col&e,

in

Jean

aillardat,

es

mages

'Aristophane:

Etudes

e

langue t de

style

Paris

1962)

esp.

pp.

194-220; as

Taillardat

otes

p.

211,

note

1), the

Wasps

urnishes

particularly

arge

umber

f

llustrationsn

this

ategory.




8/21

The Politics f Aristophanes'

Wasps

33

thefaults hat

Aristophanesastigates

n the

urors

s an

uncompromis-

ing

severityhat akes

delight

n

the

sufferings

f

defendantsnd cares

nothing orthe usticeof their ause. But thiswaspish ispositiono

anger s

not n

abstractmoral

law,

or

may

t

be

reduced

ntirely

o

an

old

man's

crotchetiness.or

there s

also

an admirable

spect

o

orge,

high-spirited

apacity

or

ndignation

hat as

something

f

a

hero's

pride

about

t

and compared

ithwhich

n

accommodatingood

nature ould

be

a feeble nd

contemptiblehing.

hus

Aristophanes

oasts

f

having

an

anger

ike

that f

Hercules hathas

enabled

himfromhe

beginning

of

hiscareer o stand

p againsterious pponents

ikeCleonrather

han

prostitutingis

muse

n

pettyibes; MacDowell

ightlylossesorge

here

as spirit r courage.18ristophanes adethesameclaim n thesame

words year ater

n the parabasisf the Peace,

where gain he

proper

significancef orge

s,

as Platnauer

ominents,

not

anger,'

but

spirit,'

'courage'. 9

his

s

the

kind

f

anger

nd

sharpness

ithwhich

he

old

dicasts, hewing

heir

ips and stingingway,fought

he

Persians rom

their and

1082-90),

and it s

this.

ame sharp

nd irritable

pirit

hich,

as

they aunt, hey

arry

nto he

ourtroom

1104-5).

t

s as

though,

n

the

parabasis,

ristophanes

ere

doing reprise f the

vocabulary

elat-

ingto wrath,norder o reveal ts ntimateonnection ith hevirtues

of

the

age

of

Marathon.

he

complementf

this

proud

age

s

fearless-

ness,

s the

old men

ay 1091).

Slaves

nd

demagogues

re

afraidn the

Wasps 427, 715); Philocleon's

rowningrgument

n

defense f

the

juror's ife

s that

veryone,

ven

his

own

on, fears im,buthe

himself

woulddie didhe

fear isson (628-30).20

Recognizing

hat he urors' nger s part f a

style f behavior

hat

summons

up an old-fashioned,

ugged

pontaneity

nd

individualism

may lso help

us to

understandhevery rominent

ole that heft

lays

in the Wasps.References o stealing ccurnearlywenty imes n the

course

f

the

play.21

over

ncludesheftn

a

kind f formal

ndictment

of

the characterf

Philocleon, ndhe confesses

imself

astonished t

the

hidden

trengthf antinomianentiment

hichhis sympathy

nd

affectionor he

old reprobate

mply.22over tentativelyuggests

hat

the

sickness r

insanity fPhilocleon's esirefor

ury-service ay

be

18

HLrakleous

rgen,

1030;

MacDowell d

ioc.

19Peace, v. 752;

M. Platnauer,

ristophaneseace

(Oxford 964)ad loc. Cf.also

Ly-

sistrata

550

and

1113

orgontas),

with

Rogers' omment n

the

atter erse:

the

word

conveys o

idea

of

anger,

Benjamin

ickley

ogers, he

Lysistrata

f

Aristophanes

Lon-

don

1911).

20

The

ambivalent

ature fthe

wasps'

ggressiveness

s

broughtut

clearlynd

cogently

by

Lenz

(above,

note

2) 42-43.

21

Verses

57,

238,

354,

357, 363,

449,

554,

556,

759, 928,

933, 953,

958,

1101,

1200-1201,

227,1345,

1369,

1447.

22

Dover

above,

note

2)

126-27.




9/21

34

David

Konstan

Aristophanes'

ignal

hat

his

offenses

re n

quite

nother

ategory

rom

the

bravado f other

omic

heroes uch as

Dicaeopolis

r

Trygaeus

n

the Acharnians nd the

Peace.23

Philocleonndeed

eminisces

istfully

bout

he

days

whenhe

could

make

way

with

ome small

pits,

while

now,

s

he

adds,

he is

watched

likea

ferret

hat

has stolen he

meat

356-64).

But the

recollection

s

inspired y

the

chorus,

who

themselves

hink ack

fondly pon

their

youth

whenthey tolea

mixing

owl

236-38).

Philocleon

eminds

is

slave of

his

kindness

whenhe

caught

im

stealing

rapes 448-50:

the

joke

there s

that

e

gave

him

good

beating),

nd

claims hat

is

bravest

exploit

was

the theft f

some

vine-poles

1200-1201).

He

caps

off

hese

achievementsycarryingff he flute irlfrom hedrinkingartyo

which

his

son

had

invited

him

(1345,

1369). But

such

escapades re

clearly

egarded, t

least

by

the

older

generation,

s

proper

o

young

men-in

the

scene

with

he

flute

irl,

Philocleon

hinks

f

himself

s

again

youthful,

s

we

have

seen.

Bdelycleon,y

comparison,

eems

pre-

maturely

traitlaced.

heir

ndulgent

ttitude

oward

etty

xpropriations,

which

hey ook

upon

s

signs f

a

mettlesome

emper,

oes

not

prevent

either

hilocleon r

the

chorus rom

eeling

utrage t

thekind

f

theft

that esultsn arge calesocial nequities,ncethey ecome ware f t.

Thus,after

hilocleon

s

persuaded y

his

sonthat

Cleonhas

systemati-

cally

defrauded he

dicasts,he

would

ike

the

chanceto

condemn he

man

(758-59).

The

chorus s

similarly

esentful

t the

thought

hat

young nd

unscrupulous en

have

cheated

hem ut of

thefruits

f

the

empire

cquired

by their

abors

1098-1101), and

they re

quitepre-

pared

o

attack

aches

for

llegal

ccumulationf

wealth

240-44).

And

yet, t

the

ame

time,

hilocleon,y

his

own

admission,

s

receptive

o

an

appeal

for

ympathyy

an

embezzler

f

state

funds n

the

grounds

thathe himselfmust t sometime rotherhaveshaved bitoff rom

provisions

orhis

unit

when

he was

in

charge

f

mess

funds

553-57).

Here,

perhaps, s

the

nub

of the

ssue: not

that

Philocleon r

the

old

jurors

re

scoundrels, ut

that

heir

rank

cceptance f

the

mpulse

o

takewhat

ne

can

get s no

longer n

adequate

thic n a

society

where

a

developed

tate

machinerynd

the

financial

esources

f an

empire

are

a

basis

of

real

class

power

or

hose

who can

control

hem.24

ithin

23

Ibid.,127.On the motif f theft, ee also JohnVaio, Aristophanes' asps:The

Relevance of

the

Final

Scenes,

GRBS 12

(1971)

343.

As a

caution

against

too

high-

minded

condemnation

f

stealingn

comedy,

we

may

note

that

heft,

articularly

f

food,

eems

to

have

been a

feature

f

certain

ultic

ractices,

nd

that

here

may

have

been

ertain

esturesnd

dances n

Old

Comedy

hat

epresented

uch

theft;ee

Lillian .

Lawler,

The

Dance

of

the

Ancient

Greek

Theater

Iowa

City

1974)

79-80.

24

It

is

true

hat

Bdelycleon,

n

exasperation,

alls

his

father

oneros

192-93,

214;

cf.

243)

and

even

miarotatos

397);

also,

the

old

man

comically

onfesses

o

an

urge

for

mischief

kakon,

22,

340;

cf.

168).




10/21

The Politics f

Aristophanes'

Wasps

35

the

deology rojectedy

the

play,

he

old men

represent way

of

life

thatreceives

certain

ostalgic

espect

ut is

fundamentally

nsuited

to the position f political owerwhich heirrole as dicasts onfers

upon

them,

nder

ocial onditions

hat

hey

annot

learlyomprehend

or

control.

Having grown

up

at a

time

when therewas

no

thought

for hetoricr

sycophancy1094-97), they

re

now

easy prey

or

dem-

agogues.

I

am inclined lso to read

Philocleon's tatementhat

s a

young

man he

could,

when on

campaign,

un

away

with

mpunity357-59),

not

as a mark

f

cowardice,

s

Dover

charges,

ut

rather

s

an

indica-

tion that

disposition

o

go

where

one

pleased

was not

incompatible

withthe interests f the group n former imes,when no one was

postedto

guarddiscipline.

am not fora

moment

uggesting,

o

be

sure,

hat

o sublime

harmony

etween

rivate

esires

nd

communal

needs actually btained

t

the timeof

the Persian

nvasion,

nly

that

the

mage

of

such

a

harmony as available nd effective

n

setting

ff

perceived

ensions

n

Aristophanes'

wn

society.

Within he world f

the

play,

t

anyrate, here s

no hint

hat

Philocleon's

militaryeport-

ment

s

anything

ike

Cleonymus',

who

is accused

of

abandoning is

shieldnbattle15-27,822-23).25

There

s

a

way,

hen, n which hilocleon

nd the urors

tandnot

for

ntinomianismr

someabstract

tateof nature ut

for

n

anterior

social

order,

however

dealized nd

even

falsified

t

mayhave come to

be.

The reversal fnarrative

aradigm

ywhich

young

man

disciplines

an

old does notwhollynvert

he

values that onventionally

ttach o

senes nd

adulescentes,herebyhe

eldergeneration

s theguardian f

tradition

hile heyoungers

moved o

passionateransgressions.ris-

tophanes'

atterns

a

complex ne, n which

hilocleon,

owevernfan-

tile, also representsn ethic and a tradition hich re nevertheless

contained

r reduced

ythe ction f theplay.

If

urors n the Wasps re seen

as aged and

old-fashioned,hey lso,

with he

kindofoverdetermination

hat s

characteristicf all ideologi-

cally harged

iterature,epresent

he socialclass

of poorfree itizens.26

25

Compare

lso

the

uninhibited

ttitude f

the old

men toward

ex

and

pleasure

n

general,

s

indicated y

theuses

of

thewords

hedone r

hedomai,

.g. 272,

510-12, 605,

641,

1534, 1667;

cf. 1006.

Elizabeth

arter as

suggested o

me

that his

spect f

the

characterfPhilocleonmaybecompared ith hetricksterype epresentedyOdysseus,

as

opposed

o

the

ragicmodel

f

Achillean

eroism.

26

For

the

theoretical

resuppositionshat re

guidingmy

conception f

the

complex

determinationf

thecharacter

f the

chorus,

hilocleon,nd

other

igures

n

the

Wasps,

see

Pierre

Macherey,

Theory f

Literary

roduction,

ransl.

Geoffrey all

(London

1978):

Whatbegs

to

be

explainedn

the work

s

not that

alse

implicity

hich

erives

from he

apparent

nity f

ts

meaning,

ut the

presence

f a

relation,

r an

opposition,

between

lements f the

exposition

r

levelsof the

composition,

hosedisparities hich

point

o a

conflictf

meaning....

The

book s

not he

xtensionf

meaning;

t s

gener-




11/21

36

David

Konstan

The

dialogueduring

he

parodos

between he

chorus nd their

young

sons

who lead them n makes

their tation

bundantly

vident:

hey

worryboutwastingampoil (251-53), consider riedfigs n extrava-

gance,

consume heir

meager

uror'spay

on

barley

nd

firewood,

nd

are

at a

loss how

to

provide inner

hould he courtnot

sit

that

day.27

Mention f weather

eads,

as

though

y reflex,

o

thoughts

f

crops

(264-65), which

uggests

hat

hey

re

farmers. ut in

the

main

they

think f

themselvesimply

s

the

poor toispenesin,

63;

cf.

703),

and

Bdelycleon

an

even compare hem

o olive

pickers,

hat

s to

say,day

laborers r hiredhands,the

most despised

formof

labor,

for

their

dependency pon

wages

712).

Consistent

ith

heir

overty,

hey

ee

therich s their aturalntagonists,nstantlyuspecting delycleonf

collusionwith he

class

of

wealthy

itizens

ubject

o

liturgies

or

the

rigging

f ships

whenthey earnwhyhe

is

confiningis father 342-

43).28 In a similarvein,

Philocleon sees

among the great merits

of ury

duty he

opportunity

f

contemninghe rich, nd

his change f

gear t

theend of the

play,whenhe

has givenup servingn

thecourts,marks

him as

having oinedthe

wealthy

et.29 he

chorus's

repeated

harge

that

Bdelycleon

s

aspiring

o

tyranny

n

attackinghe

urors s

a

political

expression f their ense of social identityast in the contemporary

formula f

class

conflict.30

delycleon

ffectively

idicules

he

accusation

byobserving

hat

veryvegetable

ealer

creams

yranny

f

one shops

nextdoor

488-507),but the

point,

houghwitty,eveals nly

hat he

chorus

s mistakenbout

Bdelycleon's

ersonal

motives,which, e says,

are

to

provide

or

his father's

omfort

503-6). Aristophanes

hereby

geniallyinesses he

fact

hat

hedicasts, s poor

people, ee

the courts

as

a

bulwark f their

emocracy. his

rousing fthe chorus's

political

apprehensions,

nly

to

dissolvethem

through comic

turnof argu-

ment,san artfulvasion fthe ocial ssue.

ated

from

he

incompatibility

f

several

meanings,

he

strongest

ond

by

which t

is

attachedo

reality,

n a

tense nd

ever-renewed

onfrontation

79-80).

27

Verses

293-316; cf.

1112-13,

where heir

roud emeanor

oes not

conceal

he

fact

that

heymake

heir

iving

n

the

ourts.

28

For

the

reading

Jcwz,ee

MacDowell

d 343;

Bentley's

onjecture

E'WV,

roposed

independently

y

Fridericus

enricus

othe,

d.,

Aristophanis

omoediae,

ol. 2

(Leipzig

18452)

d

355-56,

remainsttractive.

29

Contemningherich: 75-76, f.626; change fgear:1168,1171,1309.Ad 1309, f.

lulius

Richter,

d.,

Aristophanis

espae

Berlin

858), nd

Vaio

(above,note

23)

340.

30

417,

464-70,474,

487; cf.

342-45,

411-14.

MacDowell,

whose

ommentaryn

this

s

on

other

oints

haracteristically

epoliticizes

ristophanes'

rgument,

emarks

d

345

on

the

tendency

n

Athens

uring he

Peloponnesian ar

o

accuse

political

pponent

f

'conspiracy'r

tyranny' ith

ittle

r

no

ustification,nd

cites

selection

f

passages;

but he

harges

f

tyranny

nd

conspiracy

ere

haracteristically

evelled

y

representatives

of

the

demos

gainst

ligarchical

roups; ee

Robert

Alexander

eil, ed.,

The

Knights

f

Aristophanes

Cambridge

901)ad

235-36,

Richterd 417.




12/21

The

Politics f

Aristophanes'

Wasps

37

Bdelycleon's

ilial

nterest, y whichthe chorus's

suspicions

re

deflated, oints

o

a

fundamental

nconsistency

n thecharacterization

f

the urors, kindoffissuren the text hat s a mark f ts deological

burden.3

or

all

Philocleon's

xemplary

tatus s

spokesman

or

the

jurors'wayoflife nd

most

crid

oul

among

hem

277),

he

alone

is

not

dependent

pon

the courts

or

his

living.

or

him, ury

ervice

s

merely personal

assion.

His

fanatical

evotion

o the

uror's

ife

may

be

represented

s an

obsession

r

humor

recisely

ecause nother

nd,

by

universal

onsent,

more comfortableife s

open

to

him.32 hilo-

cleon's bond with

hechorus

s

primarily

entimental,ased

on

their

common ge

andshared

xperiences

f an

earlier

nd

idealizedmoment

in Athenian istory.33ractically,owever, e is the retired ead ofa

relativelypulent

ousehold

nd has access,

through is

son's connec-

tions, t

least,

to

circles f

considerablenfluencen the

state.The

dicast's ife s at

odds

with

hilocleon's

ocial

lass.

By

a

sleight

f hand

that

s

proper

o

comedy, hilocleon's onver-

sion from he

rigors

f

the courts o the

easy

ife hat

his

son

promises

carries he

chorus

with

t,

eventhough or

hem

here s no

possibility

of a

comparablehange

n

circumstances.

heyregard

he

agonbetween

Philocleonnd Bdelycleon s a debateon ultimateocial ssues,upon

the

outcome

f which

heir wn fatewill

depend.34

he

debate tself

s

cleverly ast

as

an

argumentbout

power:

Bdelycleon ets

the

terms,

and

Philocleon

ises to the

challenge

515-19). Philocleon

makes

his

case

essentially

n

the

deference

hown o urorsby

men of

allclasses,

but

above

all

by

the rich

nd

powerful

553-58,575,

592-602); as an

afterthoughte

adds the

domestic

ndependence

hathe

derives rom

his uror's

pay 605-18).

Philocleon's

rgument ests

n his

identifica-

tion

with he

common eople.35

delycleon'snswer

s that

he urors'

authority, hich hey egards royal 546,549, cf.587) andeven god-

like 571,

619), is

illusory,ecause

thepay

that hey eceive

epresents

only

small

fractionf

the state's

revenues

656-718). To

the

extent

31

Concerninghe

relationship

etween

issures,

uts,

or

inconsistenciesn

a

text nd

ideology,

he

clearest

xposition

know s that f

James

.

Kavanagh,

'Marks

of

Weak-

ness':

deology,

cience,

nd

Textual

riticism,

raxis

(1981)

23-38.

must

mphasize

that uch

fissuresre

not

to

be

taken s

faults r

signs

f

bad

craftsmanship;

n

the

con-

trary,

hey re

the

places t which

rt

eveals ts

perations.

32

Cf.1453-73; tmaynowbeseen how hecharacterizationfPhilocleons a humors

bound

p

with

Aristophanes'

trategy

or

esolving

henarrative

ensionn the

Wasps:

t

s

the ign f

Philocleon's

solation

rom

he

horus f

dicasts.

33

Philocleon's

astes, or

xample

is

uspicionf

wine

nd

citharas

1253,

989; cf.

959),

reflect

imultaneously

n

old-fashioned

thic

nd a

class

hostility

oward

ristocraticym-

posia.

The

complex

eference

f such

ignifiers

nables he

ross-characterization

f

Philo-

cleon.

34

Cf.

535, peri

t6n

hapant6n;

lso518,

540-47.

35

Cf.

593,

tou

plethous; 94,

t6idemoi.




13/21

38

David

Konstan

that

Philocleon's

assion

for the courts

s

a

reflex f

pure

egotism,

Bdelycleon's

rguments

telling,

eaving

side

the

silly

conomics

f

his

calculations.36s an address o classinterests, oreover, delycleon's

rhetoric

s

effective

n

two

ways:

t

undermines

he

confidencef

the

jurors

n

the

men

they

have taken o be

their

eaders,

nd it

suggests,

by ts

display

f

mathematical

omputations-however

ubious he

rea-

soning

mayreally

e-that the

strong

nd

spontaneous

motions

f

the

old

men

cannot

protecthem

gainst

he wiles of

modern

oliticians.

Throughout

hilocleon's

resentation,

delycleon

ad

been

taking

otes

with

stentatious

eliberateness

529,

538, 559,

576), and

his

emphasis

on careful

alculation

656;

cf.

745)

exhibits

hesort

f

mind

neededto

reckonwith hedemagogues.37hus,persuaded f thefutilityftheir

judicial

owers, he

chorus

wholeheartedly

ndorse

Bdelycleon's ffero

support is

father,

nd

go

so

far

s

to

wish

they

had a

relativewho

could

offeruch

advice

731-32),

not

pausing

o

reflecthat

etirement

from

ury

servicewill not

solve

the problem f

their

poverty.

ater,

when

they

observethe

conveniences

f

Philocleon's

rivate ourt

t

home,

they

prayApollo

to

grant

hem ll

respite rom

wandering,

nd

conclude

hat

Bdelycleon

s the

best

friend

he

common

eople

have n

hisgeneration869-73,887-90). Indeed, fterheagontheclassstatus

of

the

chorus s

quietlylided

n

favor f

their

dentification

s

genuine

Athenians

f

theold

stripe

1060-1121).

Logically,

s Lutz

Lenz has

observed,

he

chorus

might

ave

re-

spondedto

Bdelycleon's

rgument

y

demandingn

increase n

the

juror's

daily

ee;

at

all

events, hey

might ave

contemplated

sing

heir

legal

role

to

control

arge-scale

eculation.38

t

was

surely

not

beyond

Aristophanes

o have

staged he

idea of

all

Athenians

ivingn

luxury

off

tate

ncome

n

one of

his

utopian

omedies

compare, or

xample,

theEcclesiazusaer the Wealth),ndXenophonwasto propose ome-

thing f

thesort n all

seriousnessn

the

middle

f

the

followingen-

tury

Poroi).39 iven

Aristophanes'

enerally

ritical

ttitude

oward he

courts,

owever,

t

s safe

o

saythat

he

would

not

have

ooked o

them

for

an

instrument

f

utopian

eform.40

n

the

Wasps, he

overdeter-

36

On

the

leight f hand n

Bdelycleon's

rgument,

ee the

sensible

emarks

f

Dover

(above,

note

),

129-30.

37

Note

also

Philocleon's

nstinctive

ssociation

f

writing

ith

doing

harm,

60-61;

AdolphRoemer, Studien u AristophanesnddenaltenErkldrernesselben,Part

1

(Leipzig

1902)

104-5,

sserts

hat

here s

a

reference

ere

o

ogographers.

38

See

Lenz

(above,

note

2) 25.

39

On

the

Wealth,

ee

David

Konstan

nd

Matthew

illon,

The

Ideology

f

Aristopha-

nes'

Wealth,

JP102

1981)

371-94;

on

the

Poroi,

M.

M.

Austin

nd

P.

Vidal-Naquet,

Economic

nd

Social

Historyf

Ancient

reece,

ransl.

M. M.

Austin

Berkeley

1977)

316-19.

40

For

passages

n

which

Aristophanes

n

one

way or

another

mocks

he

courts,

ee

G. E.

M.

de

Ste.

Croix,

The

Origins f

the

Peloponnesian

War

(Ithaca,

N.Y.

1972)

362,

notes , 10.




14/21

The

Politics f

Aristophanes'

Wasps 39

mined

status

of

the

chorus-the

conflation

f class

and

generational

characteristics-enablessemantic lide

by

which

problem

f

class

tensions illusorilyesolved ytheprospectfcomfortableetirement,

even

though

his

possibility

an be realized

yonly

one

of the

urors,

namelyPhilocleon. he

Wasps

thus

raises

the

issue of

class

only

to

conjure

t

awayby

an

image

f

ndividual

ithdrawal.

Under

he

post-Pericleanthenian

emocracy,owever,

uch ndi-

vidualwithdrawal

tself ad

a

political

spect.Donald

Lateiner

as re-

cently ointed

ut that

Aristophanes

nd

Euripides

represent

n

impor-

tant,

f

controversial,isinclination

or

politics

hat

s

clearly

vident

y

thebeginning

f

the

Peloponnesian

War. 4

Most richmen,

Lateiner

notes, rarely nown s activedemocrats, ind t useful o assert his

quiet

ackof

nvolvement

5). Lateiner

uotes

from

speech

f

Lysias

(19.55): For

I

have reached

the

age of thirty

ithout ver

having

talked

back

to

my

father.

No citizen

has

ever

haled

me

into court.

Although ur

house

neighbors

n

the Agora,

have

never ven

been

seen near he

aw court

r

the

Council's

hall

before

his uit

fell

n

me

(7).

The

reasons for

this

superior

modesty

re again

best

given in

Lateiner's wn

words:

The

democratizationf

Athens, he

relaxation

of traditionalocial and politicalonstraints,he emergence f a new

class

of

politicians-all

movements

ependent

o

some

degreeon

the

growth,

uccess,

nd

revenues

fthe

Athenian

mpire-encouraged

retreatythe

socially nd

economically

dvantaged

lassfromhe

world

of

politics

nd

political

manoeuvringn

the

courts....

As the

men of

traditional

tatus

were

deprived f

their

monopoly f

political

ower,

they ame to

devalue

political

articipation. 42

he lower

lasses,

n the

contrary,erceived

hecourts

s a

bulwarkf

popular

ights, nd

not

onlybecause the

verypoor

or

decrepit

might

upplement

heir iveli-

hoodbythedicast's eeofthree bolsa day.The chorus n the Wasps

instinctively

egard

critic f

the

urysystem

ike

Bdelycleon

s an

enemy

f

the

people.43

he

chorus's

pprobationf

Philocleon's

with-

drawal rom

he

courts,which

resentstselfs

the

cure tohis

personal

obsession,

s on

thesocial

evel

an

endorsement

f a class

alternativen

political

tyle.

Insofar s

the

chorus

vokes

time f natural

olidarity,hen

here

was no

need of

courts,

here s a

specious

dentityf

nterests,

r at least

ofpoint fview,betweenheold urors ndBdelycleon,nhisadvocacy

41

Donald

Lateiner,

'The

Man

Who

Does

Not

Meddle n

Politics':

Topos n

Lysias,

CW 76

(1982) 4.

42

Lateiner

above,

note

41)

11;

see

also

W.

R.

Connor,

The

New

Politicians

f

Fifth-

Century

thens

Princeton

971)

175-94,

nd

Donald

Lateiner,

An

Analysis f

Lysias'

Political

efense

peeches, RSA 11

1981)

151-52,

158.

43

Cf.

473,

misodemos;11,

misopolis;

ontrast,

fter

he

chorus as

been

persuaded

y

Bdelycleon's

rguments,

on

demon

hilountos

88-89,

and

philopatrian

465.




15/21

40 David

Konstan

of

withdrawalrom

udicial

ctivities.

hat

is

to

say,

the

genteel

lass

could

cloak ts

withdrawalrom

ublic

ife nd

encounters

t law

in

an

idealizedmemory f a timebefore he law, representingheir lass

attitude

s a

gesture

f

pristine

ocial

harmony.

emocratic

itigiousness

could

be seen as

the

opposite

oth

of

early

ommunality

nd of

aristo-

cratic

loofness,

ll the

more

asily

o

the

extent

hat

he

upper

lasses

succeeded

n

casting

hemselvess

the

bearers

f

traditional

ays.

The

difference

ies,

of

course,

n

thecombative

ignificance

f

the ristocratic

denigration

f the

courts,

nd manifests

tself

n

Bdelycleon's

masteryf

forensichetoric.

delycleon

as

no

choice

but

to

enter nto

contest f

persuasionn

order

o reveal he

dangers

nherentn

persuasion

tself;

e

mustprovehimselfuperioro Cleonand his sort t their wngame.

What

distinguishes

delycleon

rom

opular

emagoguess the

rational-

ity

that s

assigned o

his

discourse y

the

terms f the

play,

which

indeed

nnouncestself

s a

little

rgumenthat

as udgment. 44

In the

parabasis,

Aristophanes

ssociates

his own

good

udgment

with

is

refusal o

submit o

pressure

rom ny

ource

1027). The

word

for

ubmit

r obey

s of

course he

middle

orm f

theverb

meaning o

persuade; he

chorus

mployst

twice

f

Philocleon,

s they

ncourage

himtoyield o theargumentslogoi) ofhis son (729, 747). The idea

that

hechorus

nd even

Philocleon

an

recognize

he

betterrgument

should

anction

heir ole

as

dicasts,

avethat

Bdelycleon's

easonings

designed o

subvert

heir

ommitmento

the

ury ystem.

here

s an

ambivalence

ere

concerning

ersuasion

s a

forcefor

good

and evil

that

s

reminiscent

f

the

Clouds,

ndwhich

hreatens

ltimately

o call

into

question

he

authorityf

reason tself.45

hile

Aristophanes

oes

not,

to

be sure,

deconstructis own

discoursen so

radical fashion,

there

s perhaps

sign

n thetext

of

thefailure f

confidencen an

authorizingogic rrationalityn thefact hat ne ofthewords ignify-

ing

persuasion, ywhich

hilocleonhe

father

cknowledges

is

submis-

sion

to

his

son

(anapeitho,

84), is

employed

lso in

the sense of

sub-

orn

(101;

cf.

278).46

44

Logidion

nomen

chon,64;

see

Kenneth

Reckford,

Catharsis

nd Dream-Inter-

pretation

n

Aristophanes'

Wasps,

TAPA 107

(1977)

291, 299,

for

discussion f

this

phrase.

45

Note

he

lmost

magical

ffectn

the

horus f

Philocleon's

rgument,

36-41.

46

The ideaofdeconstruction,ndthe rreducibilityfambiguousrcontradictoryerms,

I

take of

course

from

he

work f

Jacques

errida;

brief,

ccessible

ummaryf

his

methodss

Jonathan

uller,

Jacques

errida,

n John

turrock,

d.,

Structuralism

nd

Since: From

Levi-Strauss o

Derrida

(Oxford

1979).

See also Jonathan

Culler,

On

Decon-

struction:

heory nd

Criticism

fter

tructuralism

Ithaca, N.Y.

1982),

esp.

180-225,

for a

more

xtended

reatment.

should

make t

clear,

however,

hatmine

s a

political

ppro-

priationf

Derrida's

pproach,

nasmuch

s I

hold

the

source

f

the

tension

round

he

concept f

persuasiono

ie n

the

lass

onflictver

ontrol f the

means f

persuasion,

struggle

hich,

n

ts

very

ature,

must esort

o

disguise.




16/21

The Politics

f

Aristophanes'Wasps 41

When

Bdelycleon

erceives hathis

argumentsn

the

agon,

which

s

itself

kind

of

triai,

ave convinced is father ut stillnot

freed

him

from ispassion orurying,eproposesostage trial thome,with

farcical

ock-up

f court

araphernalia.

his

ntroduces

brilliantit

of

comic

nvention,

n

which

dog s

accused

f

stealing piece

of

Sicilian

cheese.

The scene has

multiple unctions

ithin

he

play.

t

is

a

satirical

enactmentf the

prejudice nd

irresponsibility

f

Athenian

urors,

s

Aristophanesaw

them;47with

transparent

llegory,

t

caricatures

dispute

etween leon

and

Laches,

a

general

lose

to

the

conservative

leaderNicias,

argely

o

the

advantage

f

the

atter;

t

serves second

and decisivedefeat

o

Philocleonwhen

he

is

tricked nto

voting

or

acquittal ya switchn balloturns-an unpardonableiolation f his

principles

hatbreakshis

will.48

We

may observe lso that t

achieves

Bdelycleon's riginal

bject

of

confining is father t

home,

a

point

emphasized

y

the

contrast

etween he

adverbs here

(enthade,

65),

that

s,

in

the

house,

and

there

ekeise, 65;

ekei,767,

770),

in

the

actual ourt.49he entire

onceit s such of a trial t

home

s thus he-

matically

ignificant,

or

while t allows

Philocleon

while

onger o

exercise

his

mania n a

harmless

way,

and

gives

him

a

taste

of

the

comforts is son can provide,t also dissociates hilocleon rom he

collective

spect

f the

ury ystem

hich

s

fundamental

o its

nature s

an

institutionf the

democracy,nd,

in

effect,

tomizes

nd domes-

ticates

he

urors.50

he

reduction

f

public

ife to

the

scope

of

the

individual

ousehold

ealizes

he kindof

privatization

ffected

y the

class

of

which

delycleons a

symbol,

style vailable n

an exemplary

wayto the

well-to-do.he

ideological

quation f

household nd city-

state,

which

n

the

utopian

plays

ike

the

Ecclesiazusae

ouldbe ex-

ploited o

express

he

essentially

ommunal

dentityf the

citizen

ody,

isheredeployedodissolve hecivic olidaritymbodied nthe udiciary

institutions

f

the

populace nto

the

autarkyelt nd

enjoyed ypeople

of

means,

nd

part

f

the deal to

which ll classes

aspired.

hilocleon

even

alludes

o an

oracle

ccording

o

which

veryone ill

have his

own

little ourtwithin

is gate

799-804), a

comment hich,

ddressed

s it

47

MacDowell

above,note

1)

249 with

pparent

redence

n

the

charge. t

is

interesting

to

observe,

lthoughhere

s

no

need

o

document,

ow

frequently

he

harge

f

rrespon-

sibility

gainst

Athenian

urors

s

accepted

mong ommentatorss

valid.

For a

rare

nd

salutaryeminderf theanti-democraticias of oursources, ee A. H. M. Jones, The

Athenian

emocracy

nd ts

Critics,

ambridge istorical

ournal

(1953)

1-26

=

Athe-

nian

Democracy

Oxford

975)

41-72.

48

Verses

99-1002,

008; f.

973-74.

On

the

metaphorical

ensity

f the

cene,

ee also

Newiger

above,note

18) 130.

49

The

contrasting

articles

re noted

y

MacDowell

d 765.

50

This point

s

brought

ut

verywell

by

Schwinge

above,

note

5) 41-42;

cf. lso

Whit-

man

above,

note

7)

155:

Formerly,

s

a

judge

Philocleon

ad been

part

f

society,

ot,

as

he

thought,

hemain

riving

ear,

ut nly

cog; still,

part.




17/21

42

David

Konstan

seems

to

theaudience

Bdelycleon

as dashed nside he house

and

the

chorus s not

engaged

n the

action t

this

point)

and not

especially

wittynitself,erhaps efersoorparodies omeprophecyncirculation

just

then.51

or

Philocleon,

he

idea

of

the commonwealth

as

been

reduced

to the

individual,

hat

s,

himself,

lone

(cf.

toi

koinoi

',

emoi, 17).

If

it is correct o

see

a

political

r

social

meaning

n

Philocleon's

addiction

o jury

service-Bdelycleon

imself efers

o

it

as

a

disease

inveteraten the

city

651)-and to read

the

household rial s a

figure

for

the

domestication

f

a

popular

emocratic

nstitution

nd

the

con-

tractionf civic

onsciousness,

t

least

mong

he

upper

lasses,

o the

perimeterf thehouseholdwalls, hen hevictoryfBdelycleon'social

ideals

s

already

mplicit

n

the

trial

cene itself.We

may

accordingly

construe he trick f

the

voting rns

by

which

Bdelycleon

etermines

theverdict

s

an

emblem f

his

new

power.

He

has his fathert

home,

where

he

wants

him;

as

actual

master

f the

house,

he is

in

control

there; hecourt

s such

s

powerless,

nd

Bdelycleons in a

position

o

decide the

acquittal

f

Laches.

Philocleon's

reakdown,

nd

the

final

cure of

his

ury

mania,

re,from

socialpoint

fview,

imply y

way

ofacknowledginghisnewstate faffairs. hat smore, heconversion

of

class

allegiance

mplied n

Philocleon'snd

the

chorus's

withdrawal

from

he

public

nd

collective

ole of

urors

ignals

he

transition

o

the

final

cenes

of

the

play,

n

which

delycleon

ntroduces

is fathernto

vulgar

ravestyf

aristocratic

ocial

ife.

In a

paper

n

Aristophanes'

Wasps

ubtitled

The

Relevance f

the

Final

Scenes,

John

Vaio

sets

out

several

motifs

hat

ink

what

he

identifiess

the

firstnd

second

parts f

the

play,

hat s,

the

sections

before

nd after

he great

parabasis,

whichhe

informally

abels the

dicastic nd symposiac arts f theplay. 52 aio indicates owrefer-

ences

to

costume,

manners,

iddles

ndwine,

music nd

dance

generate

a

contrastver

theplay

between

he

humble

ives

of

urors

nd the

symposia o

which a

larger art

of

the

social

lifeof

the

nobles

was

devoted. 53n

the

opening

cene,for

xample,

hilocleon's

assion or

jurying

s

opposed to

infatuations

ith

gambling,

easting,

ospitality,

and

drinking

hat

re

the

characteristic

ices

of

the

gentleman

lass,

nd

Vaio

suggests

hat he

nitial

ialogue

etween

delycleon's

laves,

who

poseriddlesndaredrowsy ith rink,maybe seenas a servileym-

posium

n

which

ne

of

the

participants

pes

the

practices

f

his bet-

51

MacDowell

ad 799

thinks

t

is

wholly

nvented

by

Aristophanes,

n

this

following

he

scholia,

which also

suggest that

Philocleon

is

here

speaking

to

himself;

o,

for

example,

W.

C.

Green,

Aristophanes:

he

Wasps

Cambridge

1868)

ad

loc.

52

Vaio

(above,

note

23),

335,

note

1,

and

342.

53

Vaio, p.

339,

quoting

Victor

Ehrenberg,

The

People

of

Aristophanes,

Sociology

f

Old

Attic

omedy

New

York

19612) 102.




18/21

The

Politics f Aristophanes'Wasps

43

ters. 54

homas Banks

has sharpened

he

contrast:The lawcourt

nd

the

symposium,

n the

evel

of

plot,

learly epresent

pposingways f

life, heaffirms,dding hat each s an institution,social onvention,

and

therefore

creatureof nomos. 55

Banks

maintains

hat

both

insti-

tutions rovide means

for

settling isputes ;both,

he

says,

have

their stablished

rocedures, hough

he courts

re of

course

public

structures,

with

formallyegislated

ules,

while

ymposia

re

private

and governed y

etiquette; oth,

n

short,

have

a

common

basis,

which s socialform.56

anks oncludes

hat hilocleons alienated rom

both,

nd

stands

s

a

symbol

f nature r

physis gainst

ll

claimsof

nomos

r

convention

p. 84).

But the

distancing

f

Philocleon

rom he

communal ndsocialessence of the awcourtss nota merefunction

of

Philocleon's

rrepressibleharacter, is role as natural

man,

in

Jeffreyenderson's hrase.57

ather,

t

is predicatedn

the

real

social

distinction

etweenPhilocleon

nd the

urors

of

the

chorus,

nd is

engineered

y Bdelycleon

n

such

a

wayas

to

command

he

assent

of

the

chorus tself. hilocleons pried

oose from he

courts, nd ifAris-

tophanes

hen

turns

o

satirizinghe

entertainmentsf the nouveaux

riches, his s

in

largemeasure means f

exposing he

social nferiority

ofCleon and hisfriends, ho arenamed mong he ymposiasts1219-

21).58Wealth nd influencelone do

not confer he

status f gentle-

man.59

The caricaturef the

drinking

arty oes scoresome hitsagainst

aristocraticbuses, such

as an

ostentatiousffectationfforeigntyles,

including hat

of

the

Spartans1136-66), and an

inclinationo treat

lower

lasscitizens

n a

violent r

contemptuous anner.

he charge f

hybris,assault,

s

levelled four

times at the inebriated hilocleon

(1303,

1319, 1418,

1441). In part, his poofon upper

lass arrogance

54

Vaio,

p. 338.

On

the

meaning

of

chreston,

0, as

well-born,

see

Vaio, p.

339

and

note

23, who

convincingly

efutes

MacDowell's

suggestion

hat the

term

s

socially neu-

tral. After

verse 76,

there

appears

to

be a

lacuna,

in which

another

vice

beginningwith

philo-

was

mentioned.

For a

recent

conjecture, see

David

Sider,

Aristophanes

Wasps

74-77:

The

Missing

Vice,

CP 70

(1975)

125-26

(philarchos).

55

Thomas

R.

Banks,

The

Ephemeral,

the

Perennial,

nd the

Structure f

Aristophanes'

Wasps, CB 56

(1980) 82.

56

Banks, pp. 82-83.

57

Banks, . 83; Jeffreyenderson, heMaculateMuse:Obsceneanguagen Attic om-

edy New

Haven

1975)

79.

Cf.

also Whitman

above,

note

7)

157.

58

The

mention

ater

1301-2)

of

other,

more

conservative

articipantsn the

symposium

widens the

scope

of the

satire.

This

produces a

certain

ppearance

of

even

handedness n

the

play,

which

has

sometimes

been

applauded

as

a sign

that

Aristophanes

was

above

partisanship.

59

Cf.

kalos

kagathos,

256; also

Ste.

Croix

(above,

note 40)

371-76 for

full

discussion

of

kalokagathia

with

relevant

bibliography,

nd pp.

358-59 on

Aristophanes'

use

of

political

and

moral

terminology.




19/21

44

David

Konstan

answers

o the

earlier

ritique

f the

democratic

ourts,

hough

t

is

decidedly

eaker nsofars it s

a

former

icast

himself ho

s the

most

egregious ffender.t falls o Bdelycleono offerompensationo an

outraged ccuser

1419-20),

who

professes

respectable

istaste

or

lawsuits

1426). Philocleonmust

again

be hustled

ff nto

his

house,

while

hechorus

ings

n

amusing

nterlude

n the wonderful

ransfor-

mation n

his character

1450-73).

There

eems

ittle

eason

o

take

his

song,

as MacDowell

does,

as an

earnest

omment n

Philokleon's

probable

evelopmentn

years o

come. 60

t

simply

marks

he

end of

his

jurying

ays,

as

Philocleon

himself as

testified

1335-40),

his

lawlessness

onstituting

he final

reach

with hecourt

ystem.

he

gay

finale fthedancingontest1497) sublates hilocleon's runken sca-

pades

onto

the

planeof

the

Dionysian,

nd all

tensions

vaporate

n

the

general

ilarity.61

G. E.

M.

de Ste.

Croix

has

argued

igorously

hat

Aristophanes

as

politically

conservative

n

the

moldof

Cimon, nd that he

usedmany

of

his

plays,

even

while

they

of

course

remained

rimarily

omedies,

s

vehicles or

he

expression f

serious

olitical

iews. 62

With

espect

o

the

Athenian

ury-courts,e

suggests

hat

Aristophanesaw

the

whole

system s a form fpopular yranny,nd [was]out to discreditt by

ridicule

362).

I

agree.

have,

however,

dvanced he

discussion,

believe,

from

he

citation f

scenes

and

comments

hat

re

derogatory

toward he

courts

excellently

ummarizedy

Ste.

Croix)to

an

analysis

of

how

Aristophanes'

deological

tance

onditionshe

nner

tructure

f

the

play. n

particular,

have

attempted

o

show

how

the

conflation

f

thematically

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1985 - Konstan, D. - The Politics of Aristophanes' Wasps

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