56-59
Clouds 56-59 · The boozer lamp56-59The boozer lamp
A slave reports that the lamp is out of oil, and Strepsiades blames him for using a wasteful wick.
· · ·
Servant
ἔνεστʼ1
énest’
There is
οὐκ2
ouk
no
ἔλαιον3
élaion
oil
ἐν4
en
in
ἡμῖν5
hēmîn
our
τῷ6
tôi
—
λύχνῳ7
lýchnōi
lamp
. Strepsiades
οἴμοι8
oímoi
Oh no
! τί9
tí
Why
γάρ10
gár
on earth
ἧπτες11
hêptes
did you light
τὸν12
tòn
the
πότην13🎭1
pótēn
boozerdrinker
λύχνον14
lýchnon
lamp
μοι15
moi
for me
? ἔλθʼ16
élth’
Come
δεῦρʼ17
deûr’
here
ἵνα18
hína
so
you can
κλάῃς19
kláēis
howlweep
. Servant
διὰ20
dià
For
τί21
tí
what
κλαύσομαι22
klaúsomai
shall I howl
δῆτα23
dêta
then
? Strepsiades
ὅτι24
hóti
Because
ἐνετίθεις25
enetítheis
you put in
τῶν26
tôn
one of the
παχειῶν27🎭2
pacheiôn
fat
θρυαλλίδων28
thryallídōn
wicks
. Servant
There is no oil in our lamp. Strepsiades
Oh no! Why on earth did you light the boozer lamp for me? Come here so you can howl. Servant
What for shall I howl, then? Strepsiades
Because you put in one of the fat wicks. 🎭 The jokes here
1A lamp that drinks· stage gag The lamp is a πότης, a boozer: it drinks oil like a drunk drinks wine. Oil was scarce in wartime, and a stingy master hates a thirsty lamp.Source: Starkie 1911, note on line 57
2Beaten for a fat wick· stage gag The crime that earns a beating is putting in a thick wick, which burns more oil. Moments ago he was moaning that the war stopped him punishing his slaves; now he has found an excuse.
Servant: There is no oil in our lamp. Strepsiades: Oh no! Why on earth did you light the boozer lamp for me? Come here so you can howl. Servant: What for shall I howl, then? Strepsiades: Because you put in one of the fat wicks.
Interpretation
Servant: There is no oil in our lamp. Strepsiades: Oh no! Why on earth did you light me the boozer lamp? Come here and get a beating. Servant: What am I getting beaten for? Strepsiades: Because you put in one of the fat wicks.
The lamp is a potēs, a drinker, a lamp that guzzles oil the way a drunk guzzles wine. Oil was scarce and dear in wartime Athens, and a father counting every obol at night sees his money burning off the end of the wick.
"Come here so you can howl" means come here and be beaten. The slave asks the obvious question, and the answer is the meanest one in the scene: he put in a thick wick. A few lines earlier Strepsiades complained that the war stopped him from punishing slaves, and now he threatens one over a wick.
60-67
Clouds 60-67 · The fight over the name60-67The fight over the name
Strepsiades tells how he and his wife quarrelled over what to call their baby son.
· · ·
Strepsiades: After that, when this son was born to us, to me, that is, and my good wife, from then on we quarrelled about the name. For she kept adding "horse" to the name: Xanthippus or Charippus or Callippides. But I proposed his grandfather's name, Pheidonides. So for a while we fought it out. Then in time we agreed together and settled on Pheidippides.