Tuesday, October 14, 2025
"By Zeus" in Aristophanes' Wealth
Aristophanes, Wealth 877 (tr. Jeffery Henderson):
Related post: By Zeus (in Aristophanes' Lysistrata).
Newer› ‹Older
By Zeus the Savior..."By Zeus" alone (μὰ Δία, νὴ Δία, vel sim.) without an epithet is by far more common in Aristophanes, occurring 37 times in Wealth, at lines
νὴ τὸν Δία τὸν σωτῆρα...
22,In none of these cases did Henderson translate the expression as "by Zeus," instead preferring to render it as "indeed," "not at all," "I'll bet," "certainly," or in some other way that disguises its divine connection. Other gods are also slighted in the same way, e.g. at lines 64 (μὰ τὴν Δήμητρα), 74 (νὴ τοὺς θεοὺς), 987 (μὰ τὸν Ἀπόλλω), 1006 (νὴ τὼ θεὼ).
101, 106, 111, 134, 144, 165, 187,
202,
356, 359,
400, 410, 444,
551, 566,
613, 657,
704, 706, 712, 715,
848, 863, 870, 889, 890,
905, 920, 971,
1008, 1010, 1021, 1028,
1102, 1116,
1202
Related post: By Zeus (in Aristophanes' Lysistrata).
