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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 5 page paper discusses democracy in ancient Athens as portrayed by the comedic playwright, Aristophanes. Using the play Acharnians, this paper illustrates the problems that Aristophanes had with democracy of his day and age and compares it to the democratic philosphies of today. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
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5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_MBdemgrek.rtf
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many satirical comedies about the demise of democracy in Athens shortly after the Peloponnesian Wars. The majority of the citizens were lost without Pericles and were even more lost with
the rulership of Cleon and Hyperbolus(Crawford). Aristophanes plays are comedic in nature, but when one analyzes the content, one has to wonder if he is laughing to keep from crying.
Democracy was a losing proposition. The earliest play which is still surviving today is the Acharnians, which was written in the sixth year of the Peloponnesian War. It has decided
anti-war overtones and urges for Athenians to make peace with Sparta. The plot, itself, revolves around the attempts of a humble, but stubborn, farmer, Dicaeopolis, who, tired of the hostilities
between Sparta and Athens determines that he will do what the politicians could or would not do and make peace for all of his countrymen. Unfortunately, this backfires on him
and he is declared a traitor by his fellow citizens and forced to plead for his life. Actually, during this time the country was tired from the continued warring
with Sparta and there were few plays being produced, therefore Aristophanes had ample space and venue to exploit. And exploit it he did. From reading the Acharnians, it is obvious
to see that Aristophanes was a conservative through and through and seemed to prefer an almost aristocratic rule to a democratic one. Athens had a great democratic tradition which
was presided over and maintained by Pericles. With him in power Athens made allies with many city-states. "The Athens of this period is the place where most Americans get their
ideas of what ancient Greece was like. This is because of Athens importance as a political, social, and economic center. Athens place in Greek commerce and trade made it the
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