Some significant events leading up to the play: Cleon's political career was founded on his opposition to the cautious war strategy of Pericles and its highpoint came with the Athenian victory at Sphacteria, for which he was feted and honoured by the majority of his fellow citizens. Aristophanes. Such images present the audience with a nightmarish vision of the world – it is a world where horses and ships talk and act more like human beings than human beings do. [59] Many of the grossest images in the play feature references to cannibalism: Paphlagonian swallows his victims like figs (258–63), Agoracritus is urged to eat Paphlagonian's crest and wattles (496–7), protagonist and antagonist threaten to devour each other (693, 698–701) and Demos devours his own officials (1131–40). woe! The sausage seller is not convinced at first but Demosthenes points out the myriads of people in the theatre and he assures him that his skills with sausages are all that is needed to govern them. alas! In the standard edition of the collected plays,[55] the two slaves leave the stage early and they don't return. Having no idea how to solve their problems, they pilfer some wine from the house, the taste of which inspires them to an even bolder theft – a set of oracles that Cleon has always refused to let anyone else see. Thus Cleon can be understood as one of Paphlagonian's many manifestations and the satire is subsumed in the larger allegory without contradiction. Demus, a selfish and irritable old man, a tyrant to his slaves, purchases a tanner, nicknamed the Paphlagonian. This is consistent with their role as minor characters and yet Nicias and Demosthenes were not minor figures in Athenian political life. “The Acharnians” was Aristophanes‘ third, and earliest surviving, play. The longest of Aristophanes‘ surviving plays, “The Birds” is a fairly conventional example of Old Comedy, and has been acclaimed by some modern critics as a perfectly realized fantasy, remarkable for its mimicry of birds and for the gaiety of its songs. At last the tanner would be overthrown by a sausage seller. This summary features the real-world names Cleon, Nicias and Demosthenes (though these names are never mentioned in the play). Complete summary of Aristophanes' The Ecclesiazusae. Summary of The Birds Prologue . The play's focus on food and drink is evident in the choice of a sausage seller as the protagonist. Demus sends them off on another foolish errand, laughing meanwhile because he duped both of them into serving him. The sausage seller accepts the challenge. Spectators become involved. He mocks Cleon for his questionable pedigree [6] but inscriptions indicate that the social origins of demagogues like Cleon were not as obscure as Aristophanes and other comic poets tried to make out. Aristophanes observed the conventions of Old Comedy in his earlier plays and gradually abandoned them in favour of a simpler approach, ... and the protagonist is triumphant, as for example in The Knights, The Clouds and The Wasps. [8] He had prosecuted Aristophanes for an earlier play, The Babylonians, but an attempt at political censorship during a time of war was not necessarily motivated by personal malice or ambition on Cleon's part – the play depicted the cities of the Athenian League as slaves grinding at a mill[9] and it had been performed at the City Dionysia in the presence of foreigners. [7] He appears to have used the law courts for personal and political ends but it is possible that he was neither venal nor corrupt. Next they recount an imaginary conversation between some respectable ships that have refused to carry the war to Carthage because the voyage was proposed by Hyperbolus, a man they despise. Cleon makes one last effort to retain his privileged position in the household – he possesses an oracle that describes his successor and he questions the sausage seller to see if he matches the description in all its vulgar details. Órnithes) is a comedy by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes.It was performed in 414 BC at the City Dionysia where it won second place. Gluttony is one of the dominant themes that emerge from the imagery. Socrates puts Strepsiades in a louse-ridden bed to contemplate. The two continue their efforts to bribe Demus for his favor. On reading these stolen oracles, they learn that Cleon is one of several peddlers destined to rule the polis and that it is his fate to be replaced by a sausage seller. The Chorus of Clouds convinces Strepsiades to enroll his son instead. Others claim that the state is falling into ruin while this shameless name-calling continues. Complete summary of Aristophanes' Peace. The Knights; The Wasps; Wealth; Women at the Thesmophoria ; The Clouds by Aristophanes . The sausage seller, however, is able to fight him with success. The play is set outside the house of Demos, near the Pnyx in Athens (the hill where Athenians... Summary of Knights. The sausage seller relates a dream in which Athena comes down from Olympus to pour ambrosia upon Demus and the sourest of pickles upon the Paphlagonian. DEMOSTHENES Oh! Both names are invented by Aristophanes. The Knights is a satire on political and social life in 5th-century BC Athens, the characters are drawn from real life and Cleon is clearly intended to be the villain. Detailed summary: Nicias and Demosthenes run from a house in Athens, complaining of a beating that they have just received from their master, Demos, and cursing their fellow slave, Cleon, as the cause of their troubles. Thereafter the sausage seller's accusations become increasingly absurd: Cleon is accused of waging a campaign against buggery in order to stifle opposition (because all the best orators are buggers) and he is said to have brought down the price of silphium so that jurors who bought it would suffocate each other with their flatulence. The name 'Paphlagonian' implies that the antagonist is of foreign descent and he is said to be the grandson of a foreign mercenary employed by the tyrant, Hippias (line 449). Demos asks the sausage seller for his name and we learn that it is Agoracritus, confirming his lowly origin. He drags Pheidippides to the school where the two Arguments, Just and Unjust, arg… ARISTOPHANES' KNIGHTS 65. judged the military and political situation well in 425 by rejecting the peace proposals 27. The actors depart and the Chorus treats us to another parabasis. It also talks about Hylas, who was a beautiful youth and beloved by Heracles, and Sibylla, who was an ecstatic prophetess cited by Heracleitus in the mythology. Agoracritus emerges triumphant from a series of contests and he restores Demos to his former glory. They assure us however that we are clever enough to recognize him even without a mask. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. Cleon's father, Cleaenetus, is mentioned by name (line 574) but there is no mention of his relationship with Paphlagonian. Aristophanes wrote his plays between 427 to 387 B.C.E. [57] In this play, the imagery provides a context in which the ambiguities mentioned above can be resolved. Share Tweet YouTube. Knights. Demos invites Agoracritus to a banquet at the town hall and the entire cast exits in good cheer – all except Cleon, who is required to sell sausages at the city gate as punishment for his crimes. The Knights; The Wasps; Wealth; Women at the Thesmophoria ; Assemblywomen by Aristophanes . Miserable Paphlagonian! After much agony, Strepsiades shares his ludicrous theories for how to win his court case. Cleon loses the debate but he doesn't lose hope and there are two further contests in which he competes with the sausage seller for Demos's favour – a) the reading of oracles flattering to Demos; b) a race to see which of them can best serve pampered Demos's every need. This summary features the real-world names Cleon, Nicias and Demos… When he answers their calls, both boast of a greater love to do him service. The Knights is a satire on political and social life in 5th-century BC Athens, the characters are drawn from real life and Cleon is clearly intended to be the villain. They inform the audience that Cleon has wheedled his way into Demos's confidence and they accuse him of misusing his privileged position for the purpose of extortion and corruption. However it is also an allegory, the characters are figures of fantasy and the villain in this context is Paphlagonian, a comic monstrosity responsible for almost everything that's wrong with the world. However it is also an allegory, the characters are figures of fantasy and the villain in this context is Paphlagonian, a comic monstrosity responsible for almost everything that's wrong with the world. Share Tweet YouTube. The Chorus informs us that Aristophanes has been very methodical and cautious in the way he has approached his career as a comic poet and we are invited to applaud him. See Discussion for an overview of the ambiguous use of characterization in The Knights. The knights proclaim the sausage-seller the winner of the argument and Cleon then rushes off to the Boule to denounce them all on a trumped-up charge of treason. The identity Cleon=Paphlagonian is awkward and the ambiguities aren't easily resolved. woe! What are the causes of war in The Knights by Aristophanes, if any are specified. Going for the wine, Nicias finds the Paphlagonian asleep in a drunken stupor. It is evident also in puns on the names of two characters. The Knights won first prize at the Lenaia festival when it was produced in 424 BC. This play shows how little Aristophanes was affected by the prosecution he had incurred for Babylonians.Knights (424 bce; Greek Hippeis) consists of a violent attack on the same demagogue, Cleon, who is depicted as the favourite slave of … Moreover, he says he made a Spartan cake in Pylos that was later pilfered by Paphlagonian (lines 54–7) and this seems to be a reference to Cleon's success in taking the lion's share of the credit for the victory at Sphacteria. [53] The first half of the debate at the Pnyx (lines 756–835) features some serious accusations that are clearly aimed at Cleon. There follows a shouting match between Cleon and the sausage seller with vulgar boasts and vainglorious threats on both sides as each man strives to demonstrate that he is a more shameless and unscrupulous orator than the other. ©2021 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. eNotes plot summaries cover all the significant action of The Ecclesiazusae. Old Comedy is a highly topical form of comic drama and its meanings are often obscured by multiple references to contemporary news, gossip and literature. The Knights is one of the earliest of Aristophanes' surviving plays and generally it obeys the conventions of Old Comedy. The opening scene of The Birds introduces us to a pair of typical Athenians with atypical names: Euelpides and Peisetaerus. Some of the citizens protest against the Paphlagonian’s unjust accusations of the sausage seller. Aristophanes’ Knights is a sharp, bawdy, and, in some places, grim satiric allegory on Athenian political life. READ PAPER. Translated by G. Theodoridis. Demosthenes informs him of his destiny. Start your 48-hour free trial and unlock all the summaries, Q&A, and analyses you need to get better grades now. Others accuse the Paphlagonian of deafening all Athens with his din. Knights was produced at the Lenaea of 424, placing first; Cratinus placed second with Satyrs and Aristomenes third with Porters. eNotes plot summaries cover all the significant action of The Knights. We’ve discounted annual subscriptions by 50% for COVID-19 relief—Join Now! Aristophanes' “Knights” - date of 1st production 424 BC. In Thesmophoriazusae, there is no such agon. These mixed metaphors present Paphlagonian as a versatile form of comic evil whose relevance transcends any particular place or time. The Knights By Aristophanes Written 424 B.C.E. Cleon's entitlement to these honours is continually mocked by Aristophanes in The Knights and possibly Cleon was sitting in the front row during the performance. [54] Demosthenes summons the Chorus of knights as if he were a general in command of cavalry. Euelpides means “Good hope,” and Peisetaerus “Persuader of his comrade(s).” The latter name is a modern restoration. The Knights was the fourth play written by Aristophanes, the master of an ancient form of drama known as Old Comedy. Log in here. Aristophanes makes numerous accusations against Cleon, many of them comic and some in earnest. The two at one time consider running away but decide against this course because of the terrible punishment they will receive if caught and returned to their owner. While the targets of the satire are clear enough, the translator or editor is forced to make some decisions about the names of the characters, because specifi c names are given only to Demos (whose name means “the people”) and to the chorus of Knights. They also consider suicide, but in the end they decide to forget their troubles by tippling.

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