Wasps test LEADER: Who is it that’s keeping you shut up in there? [Philocleon, putting his finger to his lips, remains silent.] Come on, you can tell us, we’re your friends. Philocleon: My son. But don’t shout so loud – he’s asleep out in front there. Keep your voices down. LEADER: But why is he doing it? What’s his motive? Philocleon: He won’t allow me to go to court: [petulantly] he won’t let me do any harm to anybody. He wants to give me a good time, he says. I’ve never heard such nonsense. I don’t want to be given a good time. LEADER: Outrageous! It’s a threat to democracy! He’d never dare to say such things unless he was plotting to overthrow the constitution. Traitor! Conspirator! – But you must try to find some way of escape. Can’t you get down to us without him seeing you? Philocleon: What way out is there? See if you can find one – I’ll do anything, I’m desperate. If only I could get to court again! [Lyrically] I’m dying to file past the screens again, with the pebble in my hand! LEADER: Couldn’t you tunnel a way through the wall and come out disguised in rags, like wily Odysseus? Philocleon: They’ve stopped up all the holes: there isn’t a chink a gnat could squeeze through. You’ll have to think of something else. What do you think I’m made of? Cream cheese? LEADER: Remember the Naxos campaign, and the way you stole those spits and climbed down the wall? Philocleon: Ah, yes, but things were different then. I was a young man, quick-footed and light-fingered; at the height of my powers. And I wasn’t under guard: I could get away quite safely. But this place is besieged: there’s a whole battalion of heavy infantry right across my line of retreat. There are two of them down by the door, watching every move I make. Anyone’d think I was the cat, trying to make off with tomorrow’s joint. They’re the ones that have got the spits. LEADER: Come on, you’ve got to think up some way of getting out, quickly – it’s getting light.

(a)(i)Who are Philocleon’s “friends” (line 3)? (ii)Why have they come to his house? Ques tion EvidenceAchievementMerExc (a)(i) (The chorus of) (old) jurymen / (A group of) elderly Athenian citizens/old men / the chorus of Wasps. (ii) To meet up with him / Philocleon and head off together to jury service. BOTH parts are required.

(b)Explain the significance of the pebble that Philocleon wants to hold in his hand (line 15). Ques tion EvidenceAchievmntMerExc (b) The jurors indicated their verdict of guilty or innocent by dropping a pebble into the appropriate urn / jug / jar / container. BOTH parts are required.

(c)Describe in detail Philocleon’s earlier unsuccessful attempt to escape “like wily Odysseus” (line16-17) Ques tion EvidenceAchievementMerExc (c) Philocleon tried to break out of the house by clinging to the belly of/underneath a donkey (on its way to market). He tried to sneak past his son. However, he is discovered (by Xanthias and Bdelycleon), his head stuffed up the animal’s backside. Odysseus escaped (from the Cyclops) underneath a ram. (Or similar.) First point plus one other needed for Achievement.

(d)(i)What idea does Philocleon come up with for “getting out” of the house (line 29)? (ii)How successful is his escape? Ques tion EvidenceAchievementMerExc (d)(i) He decides to gnaw through the net draped over the house (and lower himself on a rope from the upper window). (ii) He manages to get through the net, but is caught in mid-escape by Bdelycleon (who suddenly wakes up). (Or similar.) BOTH parts are required.

(e)Discuss in detail TWO aspects of Philocleon’s character revealed in this extract. Provide evidence from the extract to support your answer. QuEvidenceAchMerExc (e) Philocleon is obsessed with jury service and desperate to escape so that he can attend court: “I’ll do anything”. He is not interested in fashionable leisure activities and is scornful of the pleasures promised by his son: “I don’t want to be given a good time”. He unashamedly acknowledges his true motivation for undertaking jury service. He has no special interest in seeing that justice is done; instead he wants to go to court to “do … harm”. He recognises that he is no longer in his physical prime and regrets that he can’t clamber down the wall on spits: “things were different then. I was a young man”. He is cunning / wily: eg he tells his friends he has to be careful of his son / he was quick-footed and light- fingered as a warrior in his youth. He is stubborn: eg even though he is under guard and being besieged, he is still looking for other ways to get out TWO points with evidence are required. (Other answers are possible.) ONE correct answer. OR TWO partial answers. BOTH parts of the questions must be fully answere d.

(f)Discuss in detail TWO reasons for the Leader’s accusation that Philocleon’s confinement represents “a threat to democracy” (line 10). QuEvidenceAchMer Ex c (f) The jurors identify themselves as patriotic democrats and believe that the courts of Athens are a bulwark of the city’s security / not allowing him to serve on a jury might allow anti-democratic people to go free. They see any attempt to interfere with their right to undertake jury service as an act of treachery, threatening the constitution of the city. The jurors are under the influence of powerful demagogues / radical democrats and revert to political rhetoric when obstructed. (Other answers are possible.) ONE correct answer. OR TWO partial ansers. BOTH parts of the quns must be fully ansd.

(g)(i)In the agon, Philocleon explains how he behaves in court. Discuss in detail the ways in which he does “harm” (line 7). You must make THREE points and provide specific examples from the play to support your answer. QuEvidenceAchMerExc (g) ( i) Ways Philocleon does “harm”: Philocleon is prepared to accept bribes – an important man “slips his delicate hand into mine”. He is susceptible to flattery and emotional pleas: “some of them bewail their poverty”. He is influenced by the entertainment the defendants provide – a funny story from Aesop, a speech from Niobe or a flute recital. He ignores “wills and solemn seals” if there is a more lucrative offer, since jurors are not “held to account”. He is under the sway of powerful politicians like Cleon. The Great Roarer “keeps the flies off” the jurors because they convict his political enemies. (Other points are possible: eg encouragement of child abuse.) THREE points are needed (wording of question will allow points from elsewhere in play). Any TWO points fully answerd or THREE points partially answerd. Any THREE points fully answerd or FOUR points partially answerd. FOUR points fully answered are required.

(g) (ii)To what extent are politicians held responsible for the corruption of the Athenian justice system in the Wasps? Provide evidence from the play to support your answer. Do not repeat information used elsewhere. QuEvidenceAchMerExc (g) (ii) Extent to which politicians are held responsible for corruption: Politicians are depicted as self-interested, dishonest men who use the courts to increase their own power eg the First Dog, aka Cleon, prosecutes Labes, aka Laches, because he has not been given his share of the spoils, the stolen cheese. He demands that Labes be convicted on the grounds that “there’s no room for two thieves in one kitchen”. They enslave jurors, like Philocleon, exploiting their economic vulnerability or their gullibility eg Bdelycleon explains in the agon that the jurors receive less than 10% of the national income, while “this gang of demagogues” keeps them poor so that they will do their bidding: “Go on! Good dog! Bite him!” They manipulate jurors to get the verdicts they want eg As the chorus of jurymen head off to court, they acknowledge that they are attending “with three days’ ration of bad temper” on the recommendation of Cleon. Laches, one of Cleon’s opponents, is on trial, and the demagogue has effectively bought the jury before the trial begins. ONE point is needed with evidence from the text. (Other anss possible.) Any TWO points fully answerd or THREE points partially answerd. Any THREE points fully answerd or FOUR points partially answerd. FOUR points fully answered are required.