Xavier University Exhibit Honors Bachelor of Arts Undergraduate 2016-4 America and Athens as Seen Through South Park and Aristophanes James F. Neyer Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH Follow this and additional works at: http://www.exhibit.xavier.edu/hab Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, Ancient Philosophy Commons, Classical Archaeology and Art History Commons, Classical Literature and Philology Commons, and the Other Classics Commons Recommended Citation Neyer, James F., "America and Athens as Seen Through South Park and Aristophanes" (2016). Honors Bachelor of Arts. Paper 15. http://www.exhibit.xavier.edu/hab/15 This Capstone/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate at Exhibit. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Bachelor of Arts by an authorized administrator of Exhibit. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Neyer 1 America and Athens as Seen Through South Park and Aristophanes By: James Neyer Capstone Thesis Director: Dr. Shannon Byrne Readers: Mr. Arns, Dr. Niamh O’Leary Course Director: Dr. Shannon Hogue Neyer 2 Table of Contents Introduction Page 3 Chapter 1- “A Dog on Trial: The Legal Freedom in Old Comedy” Page 10 Chapter 2- “I’ll Sue You in England: Obscene Freedom in America” Page 15 Chapter 3- “Head up in the Clouds: The Issues for the Athenian Zeitgeist” Page 21 Chapter 4- “Douche and Turd: American Attitudes Toward Different Issues” Page 27 Chapter 5- “We’re not so Different After All: Similarities and Differences between American and Athenian Zeitgests” Page 33 Conclusion Page 29 Appendix Page 41 Works Cited Page 45 Neyer 3 Introduction: When Dionysius the tyrant wished to be educated on the polity of Athens, Plato was said to have sent him the poetry of Aristophanes.1 It was through the works of Aristophanes that foreigners could learn how Athens functioned.