Elite Domination and the Clever Citizen

Abstract

Aristophanes has often been read as a conservative who was nostalgic for the days before the advent of radical democracy in Athens. This article offers a more complex reading, centering on the portrayal of ordinary citizens in Archarnians and Knights Focusing on their “cleverness,” Aristophanes recognizes both the potential of ordinary citizens and their limitations as heroes in the struggle against elite domination of democratic politics. This complex portrayal of ordinary citizens, the author suggests, complements recent calls for a more agonistic democratic politics.

Made by a human like you or me: Back to the Greek classics to further develop the rhetorical paradigm of public relations

“…A dramatist who regularly deployed agonistic themes in his writing. A common theme in his plays was of ordinary citizens exploring their potential and realising their limitations when they engage in struggles against elites dominating democratic politics (Zumbrunnen 2004). In contrast to Plato's use of elite characters, Aristophanes used ordinary Athenians to play the role of the hero.…”

“…This use of emotional ir/rationality and public spectacle finds resonance with how contemporary agonists such as Mouffe (2008) have endorsed artistic disruptions of urban life. Another common problem in the plays is to ask how inquisitive citizens can come together to exercise collective political power (Zumbrunnen 2004), but the problem is not located on how to make enlightened decisions, but rather how to prevent the withdrawal from public life of previously active citizens, ensuring the possibility of citizens challenging existing orders can be practically realised.…”

The Forgotten Comedy of the Socratic Turn

“…2. Although not getting the attention it might otherwise warrant, Aristophanes's corpus continues to attract the attention of political theorists, including M. Zuckert (1984), Nichols (1987), Saxonhouse (1992), Ober (1998), Zumbrunnen (2004), De Luca (2005, and Ludwig (2007). Of these, only M. Zuckert and Nichols offer sustained accounts of Socratic philosophy in light of Aristophanes's comedies.…”

“…2. Although not getting the attention it might otherwise warrant, Aristophanes's corpus continues to attract the attention of political theorists, including M. Zuckert (1984), Nichols (1987), Saxonhouse (1992), Ober (1998), Zumbrunnen (2004), De Luca (2005, and Ludwig (2007) (1983), Brague (1998), Rosen (2000), Smith (2006), Pippin (2003), Frazer (2006, Pangle (2006), Tanguay (2006), and C. Zuckert and Zuckert (2006). Conversely, the literature on the problem of Socrates, which can be said to include the problems of the historical Socrates and the Socratic turn, is voluminous.…”

A Portrait of the Artist in Politics: Justice and Self-Interest in Aristophanes'Acharnians

“…Recently, Zumbrunnen (2006) has explored radical economic change in Wealth and Assembly of Women. However, political treatments of Acharnians have been few (Edmunds 1980;Zumbrunnen 2004). By contrast with the modern neglect, the ancient attitude toward Aristophanes is well expressed by the anecdote that when Dionysius the tyrant of Syracuse wanted to study the regime of the Athenians, Plato was believed to have sent him a copy of the works of Aristophanes (Henderson 1990, 272).…”