An alternative democracy and an alternative to democracy in Aristophanic comedy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23404019 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alan H Sommerstein (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Pages | 204-221 |
| Publication date | 2009-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Talking about laughter and other studies in Greek comedy (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554195.003.0011 |
| OpenAlex | W2478128019 |
| ISBN | 9780199554195 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 20 |
This chapter argues that Aristophanes' plays present, at least by implication, a twofold model of an alternative political system. One is an alternative democracy, envisaged as a practical possibility, in which the Demos escapes from the influence of self-interested demagogues. It will abolish or drastically curtail public pay, except for the army and navy; it will rigorously repress sykophancy; it will reject leaders of low social status in favour of the well-born and well-educated; and it will seek peace with Sparta—all in reality key planks of an anti-democratic programme. The other is a fantasy alternative to democracy, in which the comic hero(ine) becomes an absolute monarch—but this never involves a male Athenian lording it over other male Athenians.
Art · Comedy · Comics · Democracy · Fantasy · HERO · Literature · Media studies · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Law
Epicharmus and early Sicilian comedy
Divinity and religious practice
Snapshots of Aristophanes and Menander
Comedy and Athenian law
The politics of Greek comedy
Character types
The rivals of Aristophanes and Menander
Contexts of reception in antiquity
The Greek ‘comic hero’
Performing gender in Greek Old and New Comedy
Theiconography of comedy
Attic comedy in the rhetorical and moralising traditions
Comedy and Athenian festival culture
Dramatic technique and Athenian comedy
The reception of Greek comedy in Rome
Fourth-century comedy before Menander
Laughter
The Cambridge Companion to Greek Comedy
Sex Can Kill
Imprison Cleon, Kill the Dead!’
| Unique citing works | 20 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1.67 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2019 (6) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |