DOCSLIB.ORG

Miscellanea the Bird That Became a Cleonymus-Tree: Pindar’S Olympian 12.13-6 and Aristophanes’ Birds 1473-81*)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Miscellanea the Bird That Became a Cleonymus-Tree: Pindar’S Olympian 12.13-6 and Aristophanes’ Birds 1473-81*) Mnemosyne 65 (2012) 279-285 brill.nl/mnem Miscellanea The Bird that Became a Cleonymus-Tree: Pindar’s Olympian 12.13-6 and Aristophanes’ Birds 1473-81*) In 414 BC Aristophanes was perusing his Pindar—or walking over it, as he himself would say (Av. 471, cf. Pl. Phdr. 273a)—looking for snatches of verse to bestow on the Pindaric (cf. Av. 939) poet whom he intended to create for his work-in-progress, Birds, as one of fijive visitors to Nephelococcugia who would petition Peisetaerus for access to the new city (lines 903-1057).1) One of Pindar’s poems Aristophanes likely read, for Birds 908-10 echoes its metre (Dunbar 1995, 524; Parker 1997, 328), is Olym- pian 12 of 466 for Ergoteles, son of Diphilus of Himera, victor several times in the δόλιχος (‘long race’).2) I will argue in this paper that the image of the Cleonymus- tree in Ar. Av. 1473-81 was inspired by Pindar O. 12.13-6. We may assume that Aristophanes was, as so often, on the qui vive for new mud to sling at the ‘hapless’ (Dover 1968, 148 ad Nu. 353) Cleonymus, the gluttonous (Eq. 956-8, 1290-9), fat (Ach. 88, V. 592), efffeminate (Nu. 673-80) and blustering politician (Ach. 844, Nu. 400, Pax 675), protégé of the detested Cleon,3) who, prob- ably by pulling strings to dodge military service,4) left himself open to a seemingly *) Many thanks to Ian C. Storey and an anonymous referee for Mnemosyne for helpful com- ments on an earlier draft of this paper. 1) Cf. the scholion to Av. 941-3, cited as Pi. fr. 105(b) Maehler. 2) Aristophanes, in fact, often draws on Pindar’s poetry; see Hubbard 2004, 71 n. 2. 3) This is at least a possible inference from the fact that in 426 Cleonymus carried proposals regulating the collection of Athenian tribute (IG 13.61, 68 = Meiggs and Lewis 1988, 65, 68, and see Dunbar 1995, 238 ad 289-90). Note too that Aristophanes compares both Cleonymus (Eq. 951-8) and Cleon (Nu. 591) to a λάρος. 4) As Storey (1989, passim) argues. Degani suggests that Cleonymus failed to prosecute Aris- tophanes for libel, as Cleon had (unsuccessfully) done in 426, either because he considered it impractical or imprudent, or because he really was guilty of ῥιψασπία (see Degani’s remarks p. 43 after his 1993 Entretiens Hardt paper). Dunbar (1995, 238 ad Ar. Av. 289-90) feels either that Storey is correct, or that a real act of ῥιψασπία by Cleonymus was unprovable in court. Olson (1998, 167 ad Ar. Pax 446), however, defends the traditional view that “Kleonymos took part in the chaotic Athenian retreat from Delion that year [i.e. 424] (Th. iv. 96. 6-9; Pl. Smp. 220e-1b) and . his abandonment of his shield then . was twisted into a comic © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2012 DOI: 10.1163/156852512X585205 280 Miscellanea / R.D. Grifffijith / Mnemosyne 65( 2012) 279-285 endless string of jokes by Aristophanes (Eq. 1369-72, Nu. 353, V. 15-27, 592, 823, Pax 444-6, 670-8, 1295-304)—and one by Eupolis (fr. 352 PCG = Austin, CGFP 100)—about throwing away his shield in battle. Whatever the inspiration for this slander, the comic poet must have been struck when Pindar evoked the fate Ergoteles narrowly missed. Had he not gone into exile in Sicily to avoid civil war in his native Cnossos, Crete, and so not competed in the Panhellenic games,5) says Pindar, no-one would ever have heard of him (a senti- ment Euripides was to put into the mouth of Jason in his Medea of 431),6) for he would have squandered his energy in civil strife (Borthwick 1976, 199): ἐνδομάχας ἅτ’ ἀλέκτωρ . ἀκλεὴς τιμὰ . ., ‘like a rooster bold at home, your honour [would have perished] inglorious(ly)’ (Pi. O. 12.14-5).7) Three things suggest this would have leapt offf the page for Aristophanes as describing, not a possible Ergoteles, who was of scant concern for him, but how Cleonymus actually was. First, while Pindar’s ἐνδομάχας describes a cock ‘fijighting within its home’ (Slater 1969, 175 s.v.), its owner never having taken it to public tournaments, if applied in the context of human warfare in which ῥιψασπία is an option, the word perfectly complements the ἀστράτευτος, who has, likely by under- handed means, gained exemption from military service—for a soldier who fijights indoors is no soldier at all. Second, by comparing Ergoteles to a rooster, Pindar will have put Aristophanes in mind of Cleonymus, since, for reasons we cannot now recover, the poet had compared Cleonymus to birds three times before. He is a φέναξ, ‘impostor’, with a pun on the mythical Phoenix (Thompson 1936, 306-9) in Acharnians 88-90; at Knights 951-8 he is a λάρος, ‘seagull’, making public speeches on a rock, which is to say, the speaker’s platform (βῆμα) in the Pnyx (Rogers 1910, 133 ad Eq. 956), which echoes the dunghill implied in Pindar’s ἐνδομάχας . ἀλέκτωρ;8) and he is an αἰετός, ‘eagle’ at Wasps 15-27. Aristophanes will again compare him to the imaginary κατωφαγᾶς, ‘gobbler’, in the current play (Av. 288-90). This avian-link will, if any- charge of desertion from the ranks and general cravenness”. For the present paper it does not matter whether Cleonymus was a ῥίψασπις in fact or, as I think more likely, only in comic exaggeration. 5) For the historical context, see Barrett 1973 = 2007, 78-97. That Cretans could compete in Panhellenic games, given the leisure to do so, see Gerber 1970, 386. 6) Lines 540-1: εἰ δὲ γῆς ἐπ’ ἐσχάτοις / ὅροισιν ᾤκεις οὐκ ἂν ἦν λόγος σέθεν, ‘Had you stayed at the ends of the earth, we would have had no news of you’. 7) Dunbar (1995, 330) quotes line 14, ἐνδομάχας ἅτ’ ἀλέκτωρ re Av. 483-4, τὸν ἀλεκτρύον’ . Περσῶν. 8) So LSJ s.v. ἐνδομάχας, “epith. of a dunghill-cock”. Cf. Sen. Ap. 7.3, gallum in suo sterquilino plurimum posse, ‘a cock is master on his own dunghill’. Ar. Nu. 1430-1 speaks of cocks eating dung, presumably from a midden (κοπρία)..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Marginalia and Commentaries in the Papyri of Euripides, Sophocles and Aristophanes
    Nikolaos Athanassiou Marginalia and Commentaries in the Papyri of Euripides, Sophocles and Aristophanes PhD thesis / Dept. of Greek and Latin University College London London 1999 C Name of candidate: Nikolaos Athanassiou Title of Thesis: Marginalia and commentaries in the papyri of Euripides, Sophocles and Aristophanes. The purpose of the thesis is to examine a selection of papyri from the large corpus of Euripides, Sophocles and Aristophanes. The study of the texts has been divided into three major chapters where each one of the selected papyri is first reproduced and then discussed. The transcription follows the original publication whereas any possible textual improvement is included in the commentary. The commentary also contains a general description of the papyrus (date, layout and content) as well reference to special characteristics. The structure of the commentary is not identical for marginalia and hy-pomnemata: the former are examined in relation to their position round the main text and are treated both as individual notes and as a group conveying the annotator's aims. The latter are examined lemma by lemma with more emphasis upon their origins and later appearances in scholia and lexica. After the study of the papyri follows an essay which summarizes the results and tries to incorporate them into the wider context of the history of the text of each author and the scholarly attention that this received by the Alexandrian scholars or later grammarians. The main effort is to place each papyrus into one of the various stages that scholarly exegesis passed especially in late antiquity. Special treatment has been given to P.Wurzburg 1, the importance of which made it necessary that it occupies a chapter by itself.
    [Show full text]
  • Middle Comedy: Not Only Mythology and Food
    Acta Ant. Hung. 56, 2016, 421–433 DOI: 10.1556/068.2016.56.4.2 VIRGINIA MASTELLARI MIDDLE COMEDY: NOT ONLY MYTHOLOGY AND FOOD View metadata, citation and similar papersTHE at core.ac.ukPOLITICAL AND CONTEMPORARY DIMENSION brought to you by CORE provided by Repository of the Academy's Library Summary: The disappearance of the political and contemporary dimension in the production after Aris- tophanes is a false belief that has been shared for a long time, together with the assumption that Middle Comedy – the transitional period between archaia and nea – was only about mythological burlesque and food. The misleading idea has surely risen because of the main source of the comic fragments: Athenaeus, The Learned Banqueters. However, the contemporary and political aspect emerges again in the 4th c. BC in the creations of a small group of dramatists, among whom Timocles, Mnesimachus and Heniochus stand out (significantly, most of them are concentrated in the time of the Macedonian expansion). Firstly Timocles, in whose fragments the personal mockery, the onomasti komodein, is still present and sharp, often against contemporary political leaders (cf. frr. 17, 19, 27 K.–A.). Then, Mnesimachus (Φίλιππος, frr. 7–10 K.–A.) and Heniochus (fr. 5 K.–A.), who show an anti- and a pro-Macedonian attitude, respec- tively. The present paper analyses the use of the political and contemporary element in Middle Comedy and the main differences between the poets named and Aristophanes, trying to sketch the evolution of the genre, the points of contact and the new tendencies. Key words: Middle Comedy, Politics, Onomasti komodein For many years, what is known as the “food fallacy”1 has been widespread among scholars of Comedy.
    [Show full text]
  • The Higher Aspects of Greek Religion. Lectures Delivered at Oxford and In
    BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIET OF Henirg m. Sage 1891 .A^^^ffM3. islm^lix.. 5931 CornelJ University Library BL 25.H621911 The higher aspects of Greek religion.Lec 3 1924 007 845 450 The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924007845450 THE HIBBERT LECTURES SECOND SERIES 1911 THE HIBBERT LECTURES SECOND SERIES THE HIGHER ASPECTS OF GREEK RELIGION LECTURES DELIVERED AT OXFORD AND IN LONDON IN APRIL AND MAY igii BY L. R. FARNELL, D.Litt. WILDE LECTURER IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD LONDON WILLIAMS AND NORGATE GARDEN, W.C. 14 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT 1912 CONTENTS Lecture I GENERAL FEATURES AND ORIGINS OF GREEK RELIGION Greek religion mainly a social-political system, 1. In its earliest " period a " theistic creed, that is^ a worship of personal individual deities, ethical personalities rather than mere nature forces, 2. Anthrqgomorphism its predominant bias, 2-3. Yet preserving many primitive features of " animism " or " animatism," 3-5. Its progress gradual without violent break with its distant past, 5-6. The ele- ment of magic fused with the religion but not predominant, 6-7. Hellenism and Hellenic religion a blend of two ethnic strains, one North-Aryan, the other Mediterranean, mainly Minoan-Mycenaean, 7-9. Criteria by which we can distinguish the various influences of these two, 9-1 6. The value of Homeric evidence, 18-20. Sum- mary of results, 21-24. Lecture II THE RELIGIOUS BOND AND MORALITY OF THE FAMILY The earliest type of family in Hellenic society patrilinear, 25-27.
    [Show full text]
  • Plato and Aristophanes: Poets of Hope
    Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 Articles Plato and Aristophanes: Poets of Hope Anne Mamary Monmouth College 1. Introduction: Readers of Riddles In the final scene of Plato’s Symposium, Aristodemus opens a sleepy eye just in time to hear “Socrates driving [Aristophanes and Agathon] to the admission that the same man could have the knowledge required for writing comedy and tragedy—that the fully skilled tragedian could be a comedian as well.”1 In the twilight between waking and sleeping, slipping into the early dawn following a night of hard drinking and even harder talking, Aristodemus hears a Socratic riddle, delivered like an oracle from the lips of a man drunk with love or inspired by a god. Socrates speaks in riddles to the sweet but uncomprehending tragic poet, Agathon, and the comic poet, Aristophanes, while Plato’s readers listen in, as much participants in the night’s mysteries as are the characters in the dialogue. Whether tragedies, comedies, or Plato’s Socratic dialogues,2 plays, like oracles, invite their audiences to be readers of riddles, and, like seekers of guidance at Delphi, partners in the paths to their own destinies. One is not given the answer, firm and comforting or even demanding and coercive, in Aristophanes’s work or in Plato’s. The oracle at Delphi rarely hands out unambiguous advice. Thinking of plays and dialogues as awakening human consciousness, as setting into motion the creativity and introspection of the present, these productively ambiguous forms hold up mirrors to their audiences. One could take the reflections they show as straightforward affirmations of “what is” in our human-made cultural lives.
    [Show full text]
  • Literary Quarrels
    Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics (1) The Cicala's Song: Plato in the Aetia Benjamin Acosta-Hughes University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Version 1.2 © Benjamin Acosta-Hughes, [email protected] (2) Literary Quarrels Susan Stephens Stanford University Version 1.0 © Susan Stephens Abstract: Scholars have long noted Platonic elements or allusions in Callimachus' poems, particularly in the Aetia prologue and the 13th Iambus that center on poetic composition. Following up on their work, Benjamin Acosta-Hughes and Susan Stephens, in a recent panel at the APA, and in papers that are about to appear in Callimachea II. Atti della seconda giornata di studi su Callimaco (Rome: Herder), have argued not for occasional allusions, but for a much more extensive influence from the Phaedo and Phaedrus in the Aetia prologue (Acosta-Hughes) and the Protagoras, Ion, and Phaedrus in the Iambi (Stephens). These papers are part of a preliminary study to reformulate Callimachus' aesthetic theory. 1 The Cicala's Song: Plato in the Aetia* This paper prefigures a larger study of Callimachus and Plato, a study on which my Stanford colleague Susan Stephens and I have now embarked in our co-authored volume on Callimachus.1 Awareness of Platonic allusion in Callimachus is not new, although its significance has not really been appreciateda close reading of the two authors remains a real desideratum, and it is indeed this need that we hope our work will one day fulfill. The main focal points of the present paper are two passages of Callimachus, and two passages of Plato, that, read together, configure a remarkable intertextual dialogue on poetry, reading, and the inspired voice.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction to Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes
    Introduction to Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes Ἕπτ’ ἐπὶ Θήβας [Hept' epi Thēbas “Seven Against Thebes”] from its first performance at the City Dionysia in 367 BCE, the third tragedy in Aeschylus’ first-prize winning tetralogy Laios- Oidipous-Seven Against Thebes-Sphinx,1 has been widely recognized as an exceptional tragedy. Some sixty-two years later its fame was confirmed by Aristophanes in his wonderful comedy on the subject of tragedy, Frogs. Aristophanes has Aeschylus say for himself that everyone who saw Seven Against Thebes fell in love with the idea of a heroic warrior. Aristophanes’ character Dionysus, the god in whose honor Attic dramas were especially written and produced on the stage and for whom the principal Athenian theater, on the south slope of the Acropolis was named, calls out Aeschylus for doing a disservice to Athens, making the Thebans to be so brave in battle—a left-handed compliment to the tragic poet—Aristophanes’ comic character Aeschylus deflects by saying, in effect, the Athenians could have exercised those qualities, but didn’t. He goes on to add that his Persians (which really couldn’t have been a corrective measure since it was produced in 472, five years earlier) inspired Athenians. In fact, as Aristophanes in seriousness might admit, a strong point of Aeschylus’ dramatic poetry, like Homer’s epics, is that allies and enemies are portrayed as lifelike or equally larger than life, evenhandedly critical, not patently reductive of a whole cast of characters on the other side. Aeschylus himself reportedly admitted
    [Show full text]
  • The Shadow of Aristophanes: Hellenistic Poetry’S Reception of Comic Poetics*
    Author manuscript: Published in M.A. Harder, R.F. Regtuit & G.C. Wakker (eds.) (2018) Drama and Performance in Hellenistic Poetry . Hellenistica Groningana 23. Leuven (Peeters): 225-271. THE SHADOW OF ARISTOPHANES: HELLENISTIC POETRY’S RECEPTION OF COMIC POETICS* Thomas J. Nelson The influence of Attic drama on Hellenistic poetry has been a topic of little consistent focus in recent scholarship. Most scholars are content merely to note individual cases of parallels with Attic comedy or tragedy, or lament the loss of many dramas which would doubtless prove illuminating intertexts were they to have survived.1 What emerges is thus a rather piecemeal picture of Hellenistic poetry’s engagement with earlier dramatic texts. There are, of course, some notable exceptions, such as explorations of the underlying tragic elements in Apollonius’ Argonautica and Callimachus’ Hecale ,2 as well as the analysis of comedy’s influence on individual Hellenistic poems. 3 Yet the full extent of Hellenistic poetry’s debt to Attic drama remains largely unexplored terrain.4 This lack of scholarly attention may in part reflect the common belief that Hellenistic poets display a largely negative attitude to drama, 5 but it must also stem from the traditional emphasis on Hellenistic poetry as a written artefact, detached from any immediate context of performance – apparently a far cry from the socially embedded performance-culture of fifth century Athens. As many contributions to this volume demonstrate, however, this fifth-third century dichotomy is too simplistic, and the belief that classical drama was relatively unimportant for Hellenistic poets should be reconsidered given the continuing prominence of drama in the third and second centuries BCE.
    [Show full text]
  • Aristophanes in Performance 421 BC–AD 2007
    an offprint from Aristophanes in Performance 421 BC–AD 2007 Peace, Birds and Frogs ❖ EDITED BY EDITH HALL AND AMANDA WRIGLEY Modern Humanities Research Association and Maney Publishing Legenda: Oxford, 2007 C H A P T E R 16 ❖ A Poet without ‘Gravity’: Aristophanes on the Italian Stage Francesca Schironi Since the beginning of the twentieth century, Aristophanes has enjoyed a certain public profile: I have counted at least seventy-four official productions that have taken place in Italy since 1911. The most popular play by far seems to be Birds, which has taken the stage in sixteen different productions. Clouds is also reasonably popular, having been staged in twelve different productions. There have also been some interesting rewritings and pastiches of more than one play. But particularly striking is the relative infrequency with which Frogs — in my view one of Aristophanes’ most engaging comedies — has been produced: it has only seen public performance twice, in 1976 and in 2002.1 Indeed, it is one of those two productions of Frogs that attracted my attention: the most recent one, directed by Luca Ronconi at Syracuse in May 2002. As most people know by now, this performance excited many discussions, in Italy,2 as well as abroad,3 because of widespread suspicion that it had incurred censorship at the hands of Berlusconi’s government. I would like to reconsider this episode, not only because it is both striking and ambiguous, but above all because on closer inspection it seems to me a particularly good illustration of how theatre, and in particular ancient Greek and Roman theatre, ‘works’ in Italy.
    [Show full text]
  • Tales of Philip II Under the Roman Empire
    Tales of Philip II under the Roman Empire: Aspects of Monarchy and Leadership in the Anecdotes, Apophthegmata , and Exempla of Philip II Michael Thomas James Welch BA (Hons. Class 1) M.Phil. A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2016 School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry P a g e 1 | 270 Abstract This thesis examines the role anecdotes, apophthegmata , and exempla play in the historiography of the Macedonian king Philip II in the Roman world - from the first century BCE to the fourth century CE. Most of the material examined comes from moral treatises, collections of tales and sayings, and military works by Greek and Latin authors such as Plutarch, Valerius Maximus, Aelian, Polyaenus, Frontinus, and Stobaeus (supplemented with pertinent material from other authors). This approach will show that while many of the tales surely originate from the earlier Greek world and Hellenistic times, the use and manipulation of the majority of them and the presentation of Philip are the product of a world living under Roman political and cultural domination. This thesis is divided into six chapters. Chapter one defines and discusses anecdotal material in the ancient world. Chapter two examines two emblematic ancient authors (Plutarch and Valerius Maximus) as case studies to demonstrate in detail the type of analysis required by all the authors of this study. Following this, the thesis then divides the material of our authors into four main areas of interest, particularly concerning Philip as a king and statesman. Therefore, chapter three examines Philip and justice.
    [Show full text]
  • Portraying Religious Themes in Aristophanes and Plautus
    PORTRAYING RELIGIOUS THEMES IN ARISTOPHANES AND PLAUTUS Jacob Joel Crawford B.A., California State University, Sacramento, 2007 THESIS Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in HISTORY (Humanities) at CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO SPRING 2011 PORTRAYING RELIGIOUS THEMES IN ARISTOPHANES AND PLAUTUS A Thesis by Jacob Joel Crawford Approved by: __________________________________, Committee Chair Jeffrey Brodd, Ph.D. __________________________________, Second Reader Nikolaos Lazaridis, Ph.D. ____________________________ Date ii Student: Jacob Joel Crawford I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University format manual, and that this thesis is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to be awarded for the thesis. __________________________, Department Chair ___________________ Aaron Cohen, Ph.D. Date Department of History iii Abstract of PORTRAYING RELIGIOUS THEMES IN ARISTOPHANES AND PLAUTUS by Jacob Joel Crawford The influence of political, social, and religious customs on Aristophanes and Plautus is evident in their comedic works. This thesis establishes, through the analysis of religious themes, that the religious nature of festivals, the prevalence of religious worship, and the impact of politics in influenced Aristophanes‟ and Plautus‟ works. The focus and structure of this work is categorized into the themes of devotion, divination, diviners, the divine, divine communication, ritual, and offerings. The purpose of a thematic approach facilitates cross-cultural comparisons of religiously through similar beliefs and practices found in Greek and Roman culture. Despite the influence of Greek theater in Rome, Plautus‟ adaptations clearly reflect uniquely Roman perspectives under allusions of Greek settings. Aristophanes and Plautus portrayed elements of religion in their works, and despite the specific cultural influences of the playwrights both depicted them favorable to traditional beliefs and practices.
    [Show full text]
  • Pindar, Sappho, and Alexandrian Editions Enrico Emanuele Prodi
    Text as Paratext: Pindar, Sappho, and Alexandrian Editions Enrico Emanuele Prodi HAT LITTLE SURVIVES of the archaic Greek lyricists has come down to us as bare text, shorn of music, Wdance, location, ambience, occasion, ceremony.1 Our texts ultimately go back to Alexandria and the late third century B.C., when the scholars of the Museum compiled what were to become the canonical editions of those poets; and what those editions preserved and enabled to circulate anew throughout the Greek-speaking world were written words alone. But that from sung spectacle to written text, from body and voice to papyrus and ink, was not the only change of state to which lyric poetry was subjected between the archaic and the Hellenistic age. Another, equally momentous transforma- tion took place: individual compositions which were originally independent of, and unrelated to, one another became joined together in a fixed sequence as constituents of a larger unit, the book.2 Lyric was not the only kind of poetry that was affected by this 1 Fragments of Pindar are cited from Snell-Maehler, fragments of Sappho and Alcaeus from Voigt. All translations are my own. 2 G. O. Hutchinson, “Doing Things with Books,” Talking Books: Readings in Hellenistic and Roman Books of Poetry (Oxford 2008) 1–2, cf. 4–15. On ancient poetry books see also J. van Sickle, “The Book-Roll and Some Conventions of the Poetic Book,” Arethusa 13 (1980) 5–42. The interrelation between Pindaric song and the materiality of the book is now the subject of T. Phillips, Pindar’s Library: Performance Poetry and Material Texts (Oxford 2016), a volume I was regrettably unable to consult until rather late in the composition of the present article.
    [Show full text]
  • To What Extent Does Aristophanes' Knights Reflect Greek Opinion Of
    Portland State University PDXScholar Young Historians Conference Young Historians Conference 2018 Apr 18th, 9:00 AM - 10:15 AM To What Extent Does Aristophanes’ Knights Reflect Greek Opinion of Cleon and the Peloponnesian War? Samuel M. Hinerfeld Riverdale High School Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/younghistorians Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, and the Military History Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Hinerfeld, Samuel M., "To What Extent Does Aristophanes’ Knights Reflect Greek Opinion of Cleon and the Peloponnesian War?" (2018). Young Historians Conference. 20. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/younghistorians/2018/oralpres/20 This Event is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Young Historians Conference by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. Hinerfeld 1 Samuel Hinerfeld Keldorf Western Civilization 14 March 2018 EQ: To what extent does Aristophanes’ Knights reflect Greek opinion of Cleon and the Peloponnesian War? Aristophanes’ early comedies were highly critical of the Peloponnesian War. In Babylonia and Knights, he critiques all aspects of the war, but is particular in his condemnation of Cleon, an Athenian General who many scholars regard as the first demagogue. Aristophanes satirizes Cleon by portraying him as the manipulative slave of the frail, temperamental Demos–the embodiment of the Athenian assembly– in The Knights . Aristophanes satirizes him again in Peace , which follows Cleon’s demise, staged days before the Peace of Nicias was ratified.
    [Show full text]