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    The Knights
    The Knights
    The Knights
    Ebook70 pages43 minutes

    The Knights

    By Aristophanes

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    The Knights was the fourth play written by Aristophanes, the master of an ancient form of drama known as Old Comedy. The play is a satire on the social and political life of classical Athens during the Peloponnesian War and in this respect it is typical of all the dramatist's early plays. It is unique however in the relatively small number of its characters and this was due to its scurrilous preoccupation with one man, the pro-war populist Cleon. Cleon had prosecuted Aristophanes for slandering the polis with an earlier play, The Babylonians (426 BC), for which the young dramatist had promised revenge in The Acharnians (425 BC), and it was in The Knights (424 BC) that his revenge was exacted.The Knights won first prize at the Lenaia festival when it was produced in 424 BC. 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. 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. The identity Cleon=Paphlagonian is awkward and the ambiguities aren't easily resolved. This summary features the real-world names Cleon, Nicias and Demosthenes (though these names are never mentioned in the play). See Discussion for an overview of the ambiguous use of characterization in The Knights. Short summary: A sausage seller, Agoracritus, vies with Cleon for the confidence and approval of Demos ('The People' in Greek), an elderly man who symbolizes the Athenian citizenry. Agoracritus emerges triumphant from a series of contests and he restores Demos to his former glory (font:Wikipedia)
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAristophanes
    Release dateSep 29, 2015
    ISBN9788893155670
    The Knights
    Author

    Aristophanes

    Often referred to as the father of comedy, Aristophanes was an ancient Greek comedic playwright who was active in ancient Athens during the fourth century BCE, both during and after the Peloponnesian War. His surviving plays collectively represent most of the extant examples of the genre known as Old Comedy and serve as a foundation for future dramatic comedy in Western dramatic literature. Aristophanes’ works are most notable for their political satire, and he often ridiculed public figures, including, most famously, Socrates, in his play The Clouds. Aristophanes is also recognized for his realistic representations of daily life in Athens, and his works provide an important source to understand the social reality of life in Ancient Greece. Aristophanes died sometime after 386 BCE of unknown causes.

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    3.5/5

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    • 4/5
      A satirical, tongue in cheek, and playful piece of drama composed by Aristophanes. The wordplay is quite skillful here, as are the turns of phrase and the careful jabs at humor and allusions that are mentioned. Overall, it was a decent play- I preferred it to Aristophanes' earlier work, "The Archarnians." This also persuades me to continue reading Aristophanes' work, as the development of what he is capable of doing seems to extend with each subsequent work of comedy that he has.3.5 stars!

    Book preview

    The Knights - Aristophanes

    The Knights

    by

    Aristophanes

    To the best of our knowledge, the text of this

    work is in the Public Domain.

    HOWEVER, copyright law varies in other countries, and the work may still be under

    copyright in the country from which you are accessing this website. It is your

    responsibility to check the applicable copyright laws in your country before

    downloading this work.

    CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY

    Demosthenes

    Nicias

    Agoracritus, a Sausage-Seller

    Cleon

    Demos

    Chorus of knights

    [Scene:-The Orchestra represents the Pnyx at Athens; in the background is the house of Demos.]

    Demosthenes

    Oh! alas! alas! alas! Oh! woe! oh! woe! Miserable Paphlagonian! may the gods destroy both him and his cursed advice! Since that evil day when this new slave entered the house he has never ceased belabouring us with blows.

    Nicias

    May the plague seize him, the arch-fiend — him and his lying tales!

    Demosthenes

    Hah! my poor fellow, what is your condition?

    Nicias

    Very wretched, just like your own.

    Demosthenes

    Then come, let us sing a duet of groans in the style of Olympus.

    Demosthenes and nicias

    Boo, hoo! boo, hoo! boo, hoo! boo, hoo! boo, hoo! boo, hoo!!

    Demosthenes

    Bah! it's lost labour to weep! Enough of groaning! Let us consider now to save our pelts.

    Nicias

    But how to do it! Can you suggest anything?

    Demosthenes

    No, you begin. I cede you the honour.

    Nicias

    By Apollo! no, not I. Come, have courage! Speak, and then I will say what I think.

    Demosthenes [in tragic style]

    "Ah! would you but tell me what I should tell you!

    Nicias

    I dare not. How could I express my thoughts with the pomp of Euripides?

    Demosthenes

    Oh! please spare me! Do not pelt me with those vegetables, but find some way of leaving our master.

    Nicias

    Well, then! Say Let-us-bolt, like this, in one breath.

    Demosthenes

    I follow you — Let-us-bolt.

    Nicias

    Now after Let-us-bolt say at-top-speed

    Demosthenes

    At-top-speed!

    Nicias

    Splendid! just as if you were masturbating; first slowly, Let-us-bolt; then quick and firmly, at-top-speed!

    Demosthenes

    Let-us-bolt, let-us-bolt-at-top-speed!

    Nicias

    Hah! does that not please you?

    Demosthenes

    Yes, indeed, yet I fear your omen bodes no good to my hide.

    Nicias

    How so?

    Demosthenes

    Because masturbation chafes the skin.

    Nicias

    The best thing we can do for the moment is to throw ourselves at the feet of the statue of some god.

    Demosthenes

    Of which statue? Any statue? Do you then believe there are gods?

    Nicias

    Certainly.

    Demosthenes

    What proof have you?

    Nicias

    The proof that they have taken a grudge against me. Is that not enough?

    Demosthenes

    I'm convinced it is. But to pass on. Do you consent to my telling the spectators of our troubles?

    Nicias

    There's nothing wrong with that, and we might ask them to show us by their manner, whether our facts and actions are to their liking.

    Demosthenes

    I will begin then. We have a very brutal master, a perfect glutton for beans, and most bad-tempered; it's Demos of the Pnyx, an intolerable old man and half deaf. The beginning of last month he bought a slave, a Paphlagonian tanner, an arrant rogue, the incarnation of calumny. This man of leather knows his old master thoroughly; he plays the fawning cur, flatters, cajoles, wheedles, and dupes him at will with little scraps of leavings, which he allows him to get. Dear Demos, he will say, try a single case and you will have done enough; then take your bath, eat, swallow and devour; here are three obols. Then the Paphlagonian filches from one of us what we have prepared and makes a present of it to our old man. The other day I had just kneaded a Spartan cake at Pylos, the cunning rogue came behind my back, sneaked it and offered the cake, which was my invention, in his own name. He keeps us at a distance and suffers none but himself to wait upon the master; when Demos is dining, he keeps close to his side with a thong in his hand and puts the orators to flight. He keeps singing oracles to him, so that the old man now thinks of nothing but the Sibyl. Then, when he sees him thoroughly obfuscated,

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