Section Nine

A-E
Background
Lawcourts 2.35; 6.40-1; 4.2 Grammar
Dative (all types) and usages epraTara, Aav0avra
All the most common forms of the dative occur in Section 9a. Note them as they occur; the definite article goes into its grid (which can do duty for both first and second declensions); the third declension goes into the summary grid (see the Notes on Section 3, ad init.).
For simple recognition purposes, stress the -i ending for all dative singulars (subscript in first and second declensions, but note the growing practice of printing it adscript); -ic or -ai(v) in the plural.
Stress in particular that the dative plural present participle (-ouai) resembles in spelling the third person plural of the present indicative. Add the ‘irregular’ dative plurals XEpa^ (which should be entered in the full Vocabulary at the back of GE (p. 516), since it occurs later on) and avSpaai.
Discussion
A long section, with a very slow dramatic prologue which is essential as it sets up the plot. Here for the first time it may be advisable to translate a passage or two for the students provided that all examples of the dative in Section 9A-C are carefully noted. One way to speed the reading is simply to give any words not immediately recalled (rather than ask around or try derivations, etc.). If time is very short, most or all of Section 9C can be translated for the students since most dative forms have been met by then and the section needs much explanation.
Section Nine A
Commentary
p. 100 line
11 xpao^ai: met here in the sense of ‘use’. Mention its ubiquity in such phrases as Pofi xpropai; suggest ‘use a shout’ as a literal, never-to-be-written version!
Section Nine B
Background
Sacrifices 2.14; 3.28-32 Homosexuality 5.32ff.
Commentary
p. 101 line
5 £yvro: this ‘root’ aorist is listed in GE 209 p. 20l.
8 £pwTM: be alert for the usage of the stem ep- (strong aorist npopnv) in this section. To avoid confusion, le^ra is used for the future of leyra - but be warned: the future stem ep- is also to be learnt in this section (in GE 194), though it is not used in the Text until p. 126.20.
13 ^iloKupov: ^ilo- + Ku^o;: cf. cube etc.
17 ^ilo0vTnv ^ilo- + 0-: ^ilo0vrn; and ^ilo^evo; would naturally both be compliments; they are used here simply for ‘digs’ at Nikostratos (not in our text) and Philoxenos.
Section Nine C
Background
^ilnliaarn; 6.40-1
Commentary
Why was Philokleon’s jury-mania regarded as so harmful/dangerous? One clue comes in Test Exercise 9 (from another section of Wasps): the old man complains to his fellow jurors that Bdelykleon won’t allow him ‘to serve as a dikast and do some evil’. It is no passion for justice that motivates him, but the power to do some harm. The same idea emerges in his last few words in our text: ‘Pardon me, gods -1 unwittingly acquitted someone.’ The whole portrayal in Aristophanes is of power-mad, powerful yet irresponsible old men; power¬less (or at any rate less powerful) physically, they seek power through another outlet.
p. 102 line
3 ... ^£pa<;: expressions of time are covered in this section (GE p. 181).
4 £paoT^<;: eprac; gives Eros, erotic; notice also pederasty (naiS-, epaaT^c).
6 Kn^o^: technically a wicker funnel inserted into the mouth of the voting urn to make the insertion of pebbles easier and more secret.
15 ‘Kleon-lover’, ‘Kleon-loather’: on Kleon see the ‘Background’ references for Section 9D.
Section Nine D
Background
Kleon 1.58, 62-3; 6.17
Commentary p. 104 line
11 ^oyro ... £pyro: note the Greek love of contrasts.
15 Kanvn may be guessed from the stage directions; for yo^ev, refer back to yo^oc; (Text p. 4.14).
14 Kanvo^: elicit the meaning via Kanvn.
21 Chimney-lids: some sort of cover to keep out the weather when the fire was not lit.
22 = Wasps 149 (perhaps note the complete iambic trimeter).
Section Nine E
CD
Section 9E-H is recorded on CD 2, tracks 33-6. 
Commentary
p. 105 line
5 vou^nv^a: first day of the month was market day.
11 ^fovo;: see picture. A ‘semi-donkey’: the mule is technically the offspring of a male donkey and a mare.
rcwAeiv: cf. monopoly.
12 avToi; Toi; KavOnWoi;: give the translation of the whole phrase.
14 8uva^nv: the -ai- based optative foreshadows the weak aorist middle optative (GE 212).
15- 16 Variant forms of comparison occur side by side; useful for reinforcement.
15 The Odysseus story is probably familiar, but rehearse it here including the ‘nobody’ joke, which will help explain owic; (p. 106.25). Sophocles (fr. 965), like Homer (Od. XIX.407), puns on the name Odysseus:
op0fflc S’ ’OSuaaevi; sip’ snravupoc KOKOI^. noAAoi yap fflSvaavro SuaaePeii; spot.
p. 106 line
27 Arco8paoircm8ou: ano-, 8pa^-, inno;: with help, all the components of this coinage can be recalled: ‘Son of Fitzrunawayhorse’.
As mentioned in the Text p. 53, the words become ever closer to the original. Point this out by having the text of Wasps open during the rest of this section, showing the degree of similarity, e.g. Text p. 106.33 and Wasps 196.
32 &Oei: cf. osmosis, which may be thought of as ‘suction’. However, the laws of physics do not recognize any such force as suction, which is always a driving force, viz. thrusting (®0era).
34 MOo;: cf. monolith, megalith, photolithograph etc.
45-7 A complex sentence; help may be needed. If necessary, revert to the traditional ‘find the subject, find the verb’ here.
Section Nine F-G
Background
Pay for jury-service 6.41, 51 Grammar
Aorist infinitive active and middle
Aorist imperative active and middle (inc. evpi, evpi, ovSa)
^epra, E^EOTI, Seivoc;, rcac;
Revise the aorist indicative and participle and grid them, so that students can see how the infinitives and imperatives build on the aorist stem. For the -aov aorist imperative, Kvpie, elenaov may help. Now is the time to discuss aspect (GE 165) if you did not do so in 7d-f. If you did, review it here.
The text now skips to Wasps 764.
Section Nine F
Commentary
p. 107 line
8 8iKaoai: students will automatically translate this as an infinitive. Stop, look, and tabulate.
p. 108 line
12 oiK€Tai^: dative after Sixaaai (not after e^earai).
17 KaTaoKonov: Kara, axonera. Cf. various English -scope words, including the baffling stethoscope - used for listening. Note episcopal, from enaKono;, the Christian Greek word for a bishop or ‘overseer’.
18 f^£oTai: it may be necessary to point out that this is a future tense. Revise the future of e^p^ here.
22 ^io0ov: note one of Philokleon’s highest priorities.
30 Mention that the principal parts of ^epra are coming, and are highly irregular; e^ara (line 3l) and e^nveyxov (line 40) can then be noted, pointing out the peculiarity of both strong and weak aorist endings on the eveyx- stem.
47 £o0feiv: can be given a similar treatment to ^epra.
Section Nine G
Background
Urns cf. 6.7
xleyvSpa Fig. 6.8 p. 22l
Commentary
p. 110 line
4 aKouoov: note this especially - it is always the most difficult form of the weak aorist to recognize.
9 Two voting urns, one for guilty and one for innocent. Jurors placed their pebbles in one or the other - cf. p. 118.9.
17 rcavoai: distinguish this clearly from the aorist infinitive (navaai occurs as the third person singular of the aorist optative in Section 10).
Ku^p^a: cymbals. The singular of this word occurs later (Section 17B.8).
p. 111 line
24 KAeyvSpa: ‘water-stealer’.
24 a^i;: note the picture: when the pot is full, the case has lasted long enough!
33 KaTnyopera: KaTa + ayop- (speak against).
Section Nine H
Background
Coming to trial 6.49
Commentary
p. 112 line
1 Third person imperatives: it is tempting to give them little more than a passing glance. In their simplest form, the endings are -Tra/-vTrav for all third person singular and plural imperatives active; -a0ra/-a0rav for middle. If they are treated cursorily here, draw attention to examples in the Test Exercise when setting it.
1 Note the use of ^evyrav (and later SiraKrav, 12) in legal sense: defendant and plaintiff.
5 dKovoax’: this is nearly always taken as an indicative (particularly because of ^Sn), but use the mistake to emphasize again the need to notice the absence of the augment.
6 There is some evidence that Kleon may have intended prosecuting Lakhes, though why is uncertain. That Aristophanes intended Kuon v Labes as a topical reference to Kleon v Lakhes is made certain by the mention of Kudathene (Kleon’s own deme). For further detail, see note on Text p. 113. This political aspect of the dog scene has been suppressed in the text.
7 Kaxa^ayrav: the Greek idiom is ‘eat down’, cf. English ‘eat up’, ‘gulp down’. 16 This always causes trouble. Translate: ‘This (dog) seems to me to be another Labes’ (i.e. ‘Grabber’ - just as thievish as the first dog).
p. 114 line
20 The dog’s caper round the courtroom is not to be found in the original.
27 £A£iv: here in the legal sense: ‘convict’.
30 aKowavxa: ask the reason for the accusative.
31 Kuvrov ... av8pa: an intentional absurdity.
32 ^ovo^ayfaxaTov: elicit povo-, ^ay- and the superlative ending.
39 £rcfaTaTai + infinitive in the sense ‘know how to’ should be mentioned here - it recurs again soon (p. 116.12, and p. 118.12). Cf. English ‘epistemology’. 
Section Nine I
Background
Goat’s milk/cheese 2.16 Witnesses and evidence 6.47
Commentary
p. 116 line
8- 9 ‘Able to guard many sheep ’: note that (a) such a plea would be irrelevant in a modern court; yet establishing a good character - regardless of irrelevance - was normal (Section 13g suggests just such pleading); (b) the irrelevance is not quite so great as it seems at first. Cheese was made from sheep’s milk (see Euripides, Cyclops 206ff.) so guarding the sheep meant ensuring the source for more cheese! Modern scientific evidence indicates that Europeans have adapted to the digestion of cow’s milk, which can be fatal to systems not accustomed to it. Note also the derivation of butter from Powupov = cow-cheese.
11 ei ...: note how Bdelykleon admits Labes may be guilty of the offence, but does not deserve to be condemned on these grounds. Contrast modern legal practice!
12 KiOap^eiv: essential in Greek education (see Plato, Protagoras 325-6; cf. note on evpu0pia on p. 64.25). The phrase really means ‘He hasn’t had a good education. ’
13 The shape of Greek cheese-graters is not apparent from illustration, but neither here nor in Lysistrata does that matter! (Lysistrata 231).
16 Elicit KaTEKvnaac; from TupoKvnaTic; - again cf. Greek ‘grate down’, English ‘grate up’.
d^or&poi;: cf. amphibian, amphitheatre, amphora.
21 I.e. Dog’s work is indoors, less arduous than Labes’.
22 oma: cf. parasite, sitomania, sitophobia.
23 ^n^£v: this use of the negative with a participle to indicate an ‘if’ clause may be mentioned here. It occurs a few times more where the idea can be reinforced. 29-30 The comic effect of mixing singular (ae, nmep) with plural (ovKTipaTe, and anoAvaaTe in the next line as if to a massed jury) cannot easily or neatly be translated. Draw attention to it.
30 The puppies parody the typical parade of weeping dependent relatives in Athenian courts.
35-6 Karapavro; avrov: not a genitive absolute, as it initially appears; KaTaSiK&Zouaiv + genitive.
Section Nine J
Background 
Commentary
p. 118 line
2 an€8aKpuoa: Philokleon blames his bursting into tears on the soup, rather than pity.
7 p€lriw = Pelriova (as the ra indicates); revision of this form here does no harm.
8 voTfipro: viz. the acquittal urn. Juries filed past two urns, the nearer for condemnation, the further for acquittal, and deposited their pebbles in one. Cf. on p. 102.7.
10 Taken from Bdelykleon’s defence (p. 116.12) - a ‘boomerang joke’.
14 rapfaaTov: cf. peripatetic.
22 ayrov^o^ai: here almost in sense of settle a contest - ‘What’s the result of our trial, then?’
24 Presumably there is comic business here in counting ‘all’ the one vote!
29 vuv: emphasize the force of unaccented vuv here: ‘well, then’.
33 Note that n^aopai may be from rc&a%ra or n^0opai (here clearly the former, but use it to draw attention to GE 2ll).
Test Exercise
This Test Exercise is very important; it is a fresh piece and not an adaptation from the Text. Revise the third person imperatives before setting it.