We got a bit of a laugh last time out of the Old Oligarch's seemingly petty complaint that the comedians only satirized the wealthy, and left alone the ignorant rabble that he felt was the true source of Athens' misfortunes. It's like someone nowadays complaining that Jon Stewart only goes after the hypocrisy of prominent politicians. Satire works best when aimed at the privileged and powerful.
But keep in mind the power of the theater in Athens. It's estimated the main amphitheater had seating for 17,000, which was almost triple what the Assembly probably held -- it's likely that a majority of the voting citizenry was on hand to see the comedies at the Dionysia Festival, making it perhaps the main democratic event during the entire year. And if you recall from reading the Apology in Western Civ., one of Socrates/Plato's points is that the jury has become biased against him by the comedies of Aristophanes (the Clouds in particular).
Not this week, but the week following, when we do the Mytilenian debate and the Athenian victory over Sparta at Pylos, I may bring in some selections from Aristophanes' Knights. The Knights was the first comedy devoted to savaging a particular individual, in this case Cleon, who was representative of the new style of politician in post-Periclean Athens (the demagogue), and consistently advocated for a hard-line pro-war policy. It's funny as hell, and essential reading for getting at the political and cultural mood in Athens in the 420s.
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