Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-12-25
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Continued from Third Page)
Athens passed into the hands of Cleon.
a rich tanner, representative of the
commercial interests that wanted a
knockout blow"-i.e., the utter de-
struction of Sparta as competitor Tor
the control of empire and sea. In
lost play, The Babylonians' (426 BID
Aristophancs took n fling at Cleon,
aud with such hypodermic effect that
the burly strategic prosecuted him ana
hsA him fined A later play recalls
me trlS.enr:
And how Cleon made me pay
I've not forgoiten--for my last years play:
Dragged me before The Council. brouSht ms
To Islander me. garyled his throat with hes.
NaEra'd me and ssooshed me. Gil alnnst ~,
With so much sewerage lgare up the Shos''
The pro;agonist of the Acharnians
Is the farmer Dic3opolis CITY OF Jus
tlce'0. who complains that his ianus
have been devastated by war ana Is
anxious to resume his pre,war lndus-
Try of selling wine. Tired of waiting
for the politicians to bring peace, ne
proposes to make a separate treaty
with Sparta. Well" he says bravely,
10 a chorus of patriotic neighbors'
We'll, the very Spartans. even. I've my
doubts and scruples whether IN.
THEY'VE been totally To blame IN every IN
stance, Villain sasao0h'' nv"
Chorus&Not tc blame in every instance!
Villain. vasahond. how dare N we;
Talking treason 10 our faces. TO suprose
that we will spare ye;
He agrees to die if he cannot prove
that Athens is as much TO blame as
Snar,a So his head is laid on a chop.
ping block. and he makes his argu-
ment with the understanding that ms
hearers. If unConvinced. may sever ms
head from his body. As the argu-
ment proceeds. the people OF Acharnla
divide into two groups. one Tor kliIlng
him and the other for declaring him
justified. The war group calls in
passing general. Lamachus, VINO AT
lacks Dicaopolis with a spear, against
which the farmer opposes his meat
spit. The general. worsted. goes of
in a huff to battle. Presently he re-
annears. defeated. wounded and pro.
fame. no modern satire has ever so
ruthlessly punctured the military type.
The play ends with Diceopolis selling
peace" in the form of wine. to the
Acharnians while they dance in revel-
~ with something Of the released JOY
OF November II, 1918.
*% *
In the following year Aristophanes
continued the attack. and this time
aimed il directly at Cleon. The lead
ing character of the play is that IA
nous political nonentity, Demos, or
the People. Demos is rich house
holder. whose major domo is called
the Tanner. Cleon is not named,
but the illusions were understood by
every auditor. including Cleon, HIM
self, who saw the play. The satire was
Oh vI ole
take the part. for fear of the political
recrimination; whereupon Aristo-
phanes, with the audacity that made
him great, took the role himself.
A slave, Nicias (the name of the va
cillating leader of the aristocratic
party-the Lansdowne of aga B. CO.
tells his master Demos that he can
find him a much better major domo
than the Tanr~: and announces that
an oracle has told him that the next
ruler of Demos household will be an
offal seller. "a satire on Nicias' pro-
pensity 10 superstition. and the manip-
uiation Of the temple oracles by politi.
cians)
An offal seller comes along. and the
slaves hail him:
Chief that shall be of our glorious
Athens"
'Prithee,'' says the offal seller, ''let
me go wash my tripes and sell my
sausages; you make a fool OF me-"
But one Demosthenes assures him
he has just the qualifications for rul.
Ing the house Of the People; is he not
rascal? And when some doubt arises
to the effect that the offal seller may
have some good quality which would
unfit him for public office. Demosthe-
mes asks anxiously, has the offal seller
an education? He is treasured TO find
that the gentleman has no education at
all: and therefor the 0ffal seller is
crowned major domo of Demos house.
But the Tanner appears and pro-
tests. A contest in adulation begins,
10 see which OF the candidates can
praise Demos more fiuently. The RI
walls bring feast OF good things and
lay them before Demos like platter
Of prediction promises. The offal
seller proposes that as a test of their
honesty his locker and that of the
Tanner should be searched. In the
Tanners locker a heap of succulent
cainties is found. in particular a mas
siye cake. from which he had cut only
a tiny portion for Demos. The Tanner
IS dismissed. and the rule OF the Peo.
Pies house is given over without fur
Their ado to the seller OF offal.
1t is disgusting. 10 be sure: and we
gather from il that an Athenian audi
ence had strong stomach, and con.
siderable tolerance. Or Was IL that
they, too. as well as influential mem
beers Of the upper class, l0nged for
peace? Indeed. in the year AL Nicias,
les der Of that arietocratic party of
which Ar!stophancs was a voice, per-
Euaded Athens and Sparta to sign a
treaty pledging themselves TO mutual
peace for 80 years. But In Alb PC