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.
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Strepsiades
μετὰ1
metà
After
ταῦθʼ2
taûth’
that
, ὅπως3
hópōs
when
οὑτοσί4
houtosí
this
υἱὸς5
hyiòs
son
ἐγένεθʼ6
egéneth’
was born
νῷν7
nôin
to us
, ἐμοί8
emoí
to me
τε9
te
—
δὴ10
dḕ
that is
, καὶ11
kaì
and
τῇ12
têi
—
τἀγαθῇ13🎭1
tagathêi
my good
γυναικὶ14
gynaikì
wife
, δὴ15
dḕ
—
ʼντεῦθεν16
’nteûthen
from then on
ἐλοιδορούμεθα17
eloidoroúmetha
we quarrelled
περὶ18
perì
about
τοὐνόματος19
tounómatos
the name
. γὰρ20
gàr
For
ἡ21
hē
she
μὲν22
mèn
—
προσετίθει23
prosetíthei
kept adding
ἵππον24🎭2
híppon
"horse"
πρὸς25
pròs
to
τοὔνομα26
toúnoma
the name
: Ξάνθιππον27
Xánthippon
XanthippusBlond-horse
ἢ28
ḕ
or
Χάριππον29
Chárippon
CharippusGrace-horse
ἢ30
ḕ
or
Καλλιππίδην31
Kallippídēn
CallippidesFair-horse
. δὲ32
dè
But
ἐγὼ33
egṑ
I
ʼτιθέμην34
’tithémēn
proposed
τοῦ35
toû
his
πάππου36
páppou
grandfather's
name
,Φειδωνίδην37🎭3
Pheidōnídēn
Pheidonidesson of Thrifty
. οὖν38
oûn
So
τέως39
téōs
for a while
μὲν40
mèn
—
ἐκρινόμεθʼ41
ekrinómeth’
we fought it out
. εἶτα42
eîta
Then
τῷ43
tôi
—
χρόνῳ44
chrónōi
in time
ξυνέβημεν45
xynébēmen
we agreed
κοινῇ46
koinêi
together
κἀθέμεθα47
kathémetha
and settled on
Φειδιππίδην48
Pheidippídēn
PheidippidesThrift-horse
. 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. 🎭 The jokes here
1"My good wife"· pun He calls her τἀγαθῇ, "my good wife", in the middle of a story about how she ruined him. It is said through his teeth.Source: Starkie 1911, note on line 8
2Horse names· name joke Names with ἵππος, "horse", were the names of the rich, the families who could keep horses. Xanthippus, Charippus, Callippides: roughly Blond-horse, Grace-horse, Fair-horse. The mother wants her son to sound like her family.Source: Starkie 1911, note on line 63
3Thrift + Horse = Pheidippides· name joke The father wanted Pheidonides, from φείδομαι, "spare, be thrifty". The compromise is Pheid-ippides, Thrift-horse, a sop to his stinginess and to her pride. Read literally it means "sparer of horses", which is the last thing the boy turned out to be.Source: Starkie 1911, note on line 67
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.
Interpretation
After that, when this son here was born to us, to me and my good wife, we started quarrelling about his name. She wanted "horse" in it: Xanthippus or Charippus or Callippides. I wanted to call him after his grandfather, Pheidonides. We fought it out for a while, and then in the end we agreed and settled on Pheidippides.
Athenian aristocrats loved names with hippos, "horse", in them, because only the rich kept horses: Xanthippus, Charippus, Callippides, Blond-horse, Grace-horse, Fair-horse. The mother reaches for her family's kind of name. The father wants his own father's, Pheidonides, built on pheidesthai, "to spare, to save money".
The compromise glues the two together: Pheid-ippides, Thrift and Horse. In Greek it could even mean "one who spares the horses". The boy grew up to follow only one half of his name, and his father has been paying for it ever since. Strepsiades calls her "my good wife" in a tone the audience would not have missed.
68-74
Clouds 68-74 · Two dreams for one boy68-74Two dreams for one boy
Strepsiades remembers how his wife cooed over the baby about chariots and robes, while he pictured the boy herding goats.
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Strepsiades: She would take this son and coo, When you are grown and drive a chariot to the city like Megacles, wearing a long robe! But I said, No, when you drive the goats from the Phelleus, like your father, wrapped in a hide. But she did not listen to my words at all, but poured horse-fever all over my property.