Aristophanes (c. 445–c. 380 BC)

Greek comedy dramatist. Of his 11 extant plays (of a total of over 40), the early comedies are remarkable for the violent satire with which he ridiculed the democratic war leaders. He also satirized contemporary issues such as the new learning of Socrates in The Clouds (423 BC) and the obsession with war, with the sex-strike of women in Lysistrata (411 BC). The chorus plays a prominent role, frequently giving the play its title, as in The Wasps (422 BC), The Birds (414 BC), and The Frogs (405 BC).

The first evil he attacked was the Peloponnesian War, to which he ascribed the influence of such demagogues as Cleon in Athens; other objects of his indignation include the excessive love of litigation in Athens (The Wasps). His other surviving plays are: The Acharnians 425, The Knights 424, The Peace 421, Thesmophoriazusae 410, Ecclesiazusae 393, and Plutus 388. Aristophanes was a master of the Attic dialect. His dramatic greatness lies in his wit and humanitarian feeling, which insists that, in spite of their aberrations, humans are essentially wholesome creatures.

Aristophanes was probably born in Athens. His father had property in Aegina, and may originally have come from there; hence the doubt as to whether Aristophanes was a genuine Athenian citizen and Cleon's attempt to deprive him of his civic rights. He had three sons, but nothing else is known of his private life.