Satire is also present in “The Wasps”, although not while impersonating an important figure, it is of the over-zealous jury courts. The satire does is centred around the Athenian law courts after Cleon’s reforms and their failure to look after the everyday Athenian, in the form of Procleon, promotes much sneering at Cleon throughout the play as Procleon has allowed himself to be duped; somebody who believes in Cleon and is his supporter is easily dissuaded from this opinion. Aristophanes names his main two characters Anticleon and Procleon, a very obvious verbal twist which is guaranteed to get a laugh from the audience. The satire of the Jury Courts is continued right through the play, later with a mock trial where Procleon has to decide whether a dog is guilty of stealing cheese and the inexpert nature of the Athenian juries are shown as Procleon “softens” because of the vulnerable nature of the puppies begging and “whimpering” before him, even though Labes, the dog, is obviously guilty.
Just as satire and impersonation are much more specific and wholly evident in “The Frogs”, so is situation comedy in the Wasps. The play deals with ordinary people coping with their everyday problems, in Athens it is “the scrawny rabble, feeding on scraps”, the amusement comes from their similar predicaments to the general Athenian citizen and also because of the eccentric solutions they present to solve the problem, the divisions in society and Athenian life are shown with wild fantasies to solve these divisions, for example, in “The Wasps” Procleon brings kitchen utensils to life to act as witnesses in the case against Labes:
“Citizen Bowl! Citizen Pestle! Citizen Cheese-Grater!” This creates a very bizarre image of normally lifeless object speaking in the ‘mock’ courtroom.
The addictive nature of the jury courts and the obsessive want of the jurors to convict the defendants are amusingly dealt with and portrayed by Aristophanes, Procleon is so fanatical about the jury courts that he writes “Beautiful urn, how I long for your slot” on the gatepost of the Demos. Aristophanes portrays the jurors as wasps, they are the chorus from which the play takes its name, their animalistic image allows them to escape from human identity whilst also showing an extremely funny representation of the jurors as wasps while they “go for his [Xanthias’] backside” with their stings. In “The Frogs” the chorus is equally bizarre as the playwright imitates a frog croaking with the repetition of “brekekex”.
In “The Frogs” the agon, between Dionysus and the chorus of frogs, is very amusing as quick replies and slapdash rhyme in the dispute make the agon very energetic and dynamic. In addition, the long metre that is repeated by both parties and then interspersed with shorter lyrics has a similar effect:
“FROGS: Brekeke-kex, ko-ax …. ….
….marshes and bogs.
DIONYSUS: I don’t want to row anymore,
FROGS: Brekeke-ex!
DIONYSUS: For my bottom is getting so sore.
Brekeke-ex!”
The symmetrical nature of the agon makes this part of the play short and snappy creating a much more sophisticated undertone to the humour, while still appealing to the lesser-educated Athenians because of the simple language and amusing images of “burps” and “blisters” on Dionysus’ “delicate bum”. In “the Wasps” the dispute is preceded by a preliminary agon, which is very violent and visual, much less of a play on words, and it is hinted that it is more of a choreographic battle, this is shown by the very lively and active language as the leader of the wasps shouts out instructions to the rest of the chorus:
“By the right, in reverse, quick march! … Jab at his eyes.” This also helps to show the intimidating nature of the wasps as Xanthias screams “Shoo! Shoo!” and “Drive them back”. The agon is much more complicated in this play because the content of the debate is the basis for the main plot of the story, whereas in “The Frogs” this part of the play does not lead onto another subplot. Perhaps this difference has arisen because Aristophanes chose to use the Initiates as his main chorus and in choosing this subject matter he would have had to be extremely careful, it would have been considered extremely tasteless to poke fun at the Initiates. Therefore to keep in touch with the comic nature of the play the chorus of frogs is used for the humorous agon and to create a more significant impact in the parabasis Aristophanes could use the Initiates, their command for respect would have really drawn attention to the real problems in Athenian society.
In the wasps the parabasis has a much more comic attachment because a wasp delivers it, the pride he feels in the “handy little weapon protruding from [his] backside” makes the whole speech very funny. It is very difficult to take a man dressed like a wasp seriously! The message being delivered by the chorus does become clear throughout the parabasis, the comedy does not detract from it but instead only reinforces the ridiculous nature of their society:
“Observe our social structure and you’ll see that it conforms
To that of wasps exactly –we are organised in swarms.”
Conversely, the content of the parabasis is serious in “The Frogs” because of the sensitive characters Aristophanes chooses to use as his chorus. Here, the humour in “The Frogs” is much more erudite and the language more complex, as Aristophanes uses wit and irony to criticise Athenian society:
“Discerning folk will murmur (let us hope):
‘She’s hanged herself –but what a splendid piece of rope!’”
Perhaps the delicate care Aristophanes is forced to take in presenting the initiates results in the parabasis of “The Frogs”, bearing many more topical allusions than in “The Wasps” simply because he cannot get a laugh by using gaudy language, as he is able to in “The Wasps” where he uses very grotesque imagery of “camel’s rump and monstrous unwashed balls”, means Aristophanes must rely on the content of the speeches to be amusing and for the humour to be relevant and appreciated by the Athenian audience he would have referred to very specific everyday problems to suit his audience’s situation.
Aristophanes’ fantasy depends largely on staying in touch with everyday reality; however, there is a frequent injection of quips and jokes guaranteed to make the audience laugh. He demonstrates the typical ‘clever dick’ humour in “The Frogs” as Xanthias tries to defy his master, an amusing portrayal of their relationship:
“DIONYSUS: I don’t get that.
XANTHIAS: No, I’ve got it. And I’m telling you it weighs a packet.” This comic effect is also repeatedly evident in “The Wasps”, most notably at the start of the play as the two slaves laugh at their own lethargy:
“XANTHIAS: What do you think you are, a blinking Corybant?
SOSIAS: No, just asleep. Though I won’t say there was nothing Bacchic about it.
[He produces a wine flask]
XANTHIAS: [Producing another] Looks as if we are fellow devotees!”
Jokes about sex and religion were also used in Aristophanes’ plays. In the wasps, Procleon’s sexual suggestiveness to the flute girl is hilarious as he says that he “won’t be the last man she’s left standing” and by insinuating that he would prefer to fondle her breasts than do jury service. Procleon’s attempts to disguise the girl as a torch while Anticleon points out parts of the ‘torch’ which are uncommonly similar to the human body- “What’s this dark patch in the middle”- are very suggestive. In “The Frogs”, there are also many sexual jokes, for example when Dionysus literally “sits on the oar” rather than “to” it. From this analysis it is evident that the sexual jokes are far more visual in “The Frogs”, whereas in the wasps the verbal ambiguity in the lines are what make the jokes more funny, as when Procleon offers his phallus, or this is insinuated, he could be offering a rope, to Dardanis apologising for its “old and wrinkled” appearance.
Role reversal is very much evident in both the plays, more notably in “The Frogs” where much humour arises from the swapping of roles between Xanthias and Dionysus, they both take turns pretending to be Heracles and each time Dionysus does so he is accused of being a “foul, shameless, good-for-nothing villain” and Xanthias is offered a “flute girl in full bloom”. The attempt to prove which man is the real Dionysus is equally amusing as they are whipped in turn, each making excuses for crying out in pain:
“DIONYSUS: Ow!
AEACUS: What’s the matter?
DIONYSUS: men on horseback, look!
AEACUS: Funny they should make you cry.
DIONYSUS: There’s a smell of onions.”
The role reversal is much more understated in “The Wasps”, however, the humour is just as affective as Procleon talks about his “very strict” son, who is a “terrible old skinflint”, and it is as if they have exchanged the roles of father and son. Anticleon’s bossy and patronising attitude towards his father clearly shows their unusual relationship in a very droll light.
The comic structure of the two plays is very similar and Aristophanes gaudy representation of Old Comedy is evident in both. However, due to the varying subject matter the humour in “The Frogs” and “The Wasps” is bound to differ because Aristophanes has to deal with the character he uses in different ways, for example, the chorus of Initiates in “The Frogs” have to be respected because this was the general consensus in Athenian society and so if Aristophanes had not venerated the Initiates he would have received heavy criticism. However, the chorus of jurymen in “The Wasps” are easily ridiculed because in 6th Century Athens they were a subject of constant mockery. The choruses which Aristophanes had to work with would have a significant impact on the style of the comedy, for example, the difference in the agones of the two plays is probably due to the fact that he might have had a more agile chorus with which to perform “The Wasps” and so he could use a chorographical battle for this agon, whereas in “The Frogs” the old chorus of initiates would have not been suited for this. Perhaps this is why Aristophanes has to use two forms of chorus, the frogs and the Initiates so that he could still keep his almost grotesque style in his treatment of the chorus. Both the plays conform to brash farce that was Aristophanic comedy; it is the subtle differences in presentation and emphasis, which make the plays appear so diverse in their comic nature.
