Political Rhetoric and Comic Invective in Fifth-Century Athens: The Trial of the Dogs in Aristophanes’ Wasps
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Ioannis Konstantakos
Abstract
Old Attic comedy includes plenty of invective against the political leaders of Athens. The comic poets rework rhetorical elements from the public discourses of Athenian statesmen and thus provide indications about the practices and commonplaces of fifth-century political oratory. In this chapter the interaction between comic ridicule and political speeches is analysed through a particular case-study, the mock-trial of the two dogs in Aristophanes’ Wasps (826‒1008). This episode parodies the confrontation between two ideologically opposed statesmen, the arch-demagogue Cleon and general Laches, in the last years of the Archidamian War. The Aristophanic text reflects rhetorical devices, propagandistic statements and ideological tenets drawn apparently from the public discourses which the opposed parties held in the context of their conflict. The presentation of Cleon and Laches in the form of dogs is a grotesque scenic materialisation of a rhetorical metaphor which Cleon used in his own harangues. The motifs of animal imagery and fable, which permeate the episode of the trial, may have been inspired by the use of Aesopic fables as persuasive examples in the speeches of the two opponents. The humorous character portraits of the two dogs reverberate with ideological principles and stereotypes that are familiar from the political debates between radicals and moderates in Athenian public life.
Abstract
Old Attic comedy includes plenty of invective against the political leaders of Athens. The comic poets rework rhetorical elements from the public discourses of Athenian statesmen and thus provide indications about the practices and commonplaces of fifth-century political oratory. In this chapter the interaction between comic ridicule and political speeches is analysed through a particular case-study, the mock-trial of the two dogs in Aristophanes’ Wasps (826‒1008). This episode parodies the confrontation between two ideologically opposed statesmen, the arch-demagogue Cleon and general Laches, in the last years of the Archidamian War. The Aristophanic text reflects rhetorical devices, propagandistic statements and ideological tenets drawn apparently from the public discourses which the opposed parties held in the context of their conflict. The presentation of Cleon and Laches in the form of dogs is a grotesque scenic materialisation of a rhetorical metaphor which Cleon used in his own harangues. The motifs of animal imagery and fable, which permeate the episode of the trial, may have been inspired by the use of Aesopic fables as persuasive examples in the speeches of the two opponents. The humorous character portraits of the two dogs reverberate with ideological principles and stereotypes that are familiar from the political debates between radicals and moderates in Athenian public life.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Acknowledgements VII
- Killing with a Smile: Comic Invective in Greek and Roman Oratory 1
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Part I: Intertextual and Multi-genre Invective
- Comedy and Insults in the Athenian Law-courts 25
- Comic Invective and Public Speech in Fourth-Century Athens 43
- Comic Invective in Attic Forensic Oratory: Private Speeches 65
- Rhetorical Defence, Inter-poetic Agōn and the Reframing of Comic Invective in Plato’s Apology of Socrates 81
- “You are Mad!” Allegations of Insanity in Greek Comedy and Rhetoric 107
- Comic Invective in Cicero’s Speech Pro M. Caelio 125
- How to Start a Show: Comic Invectives in the Prologues of Terence and Decimus Laberius 147
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Part II: The Cultural Workings of Invective
- Comic Somatisation and the Body of Evidence in Aeschines’ Against Timarchus 171
- Comic Invective, Decorum and Ars in Cicero’s De Oratore 191
- No Decorum in the Forum? Comic Invective in the Theatre of Justice 211
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Part III: Invective in Ancient Socio-political Contexts
- Political Rhetoric and Comic Invective in Fifth-Century Athens: The Trial of the Dogs in Aristophanes’ Wasps 235
- Democracy, Poverty, Comic Heroism and Oratorical Strategy in Lysias 24 257
- Notes on Editors and Contributors 273
- General Index 275
- Index Locorum 279
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Acknowledgements VII
- Killing with a Smile: Comic Invective in Greek and Roman Oratory 1
-
Part I: Intertextual and Multi-genre Invective
- Comedy and Insults in the Athenian Law-courts 25
- Comic Invective and Public Speech in Fourth-Century Athens 43
- Comic Invective in Attic Forensic Oratory: Private Speeches 65
- Rhetorical Defence, Inter-poetic Agōn and the Reframing of Comic Invective in Plato’s Apology of Socrates 81
- “You are Mad!” Allegations of Insanity in Greek Comedy and Rhetoric 107
- Comic Invective in Cicero’s Speech Pro M. Caelio 125
- How to Start a Show: Comic Invectives in the Prologues of Terence and Decimus Laberius 147
-
Part II: The Cultural Workings of Invective
- Comic Somatisation and the Body of Evidence in Aeschines’ Against Timarchus 171
- Comic Invective, Decorum and Ars in Cicero’s De Oratore 191
- No Decorum in the Forum? Comic Invective in the Theatre of Justice 211
-
Part III: Invective in Ancient Socio-political Contexts
- Political Rhetoric and Comic Invective in Fifth-Century Athens: The Trial of the Dogs in Aristophanes’ Wasps 235
- Democracy, Poverty, Comic Heroism and Oratorical Strategy in Lysias 24 257
- Notes on Editors and Contributors 273
- General Index 275
- Index Locorum 279
