the slaves of Wasps (Sosias and Xanthias) fade into the background following the opening scene

in these plays, slaves may partake in plans and plots, but they never plan them

of course, the paphlagonian has agency and influence, as he affects the lives of his fellow slaves, and manipulates his master

but he is not a usual slave, he serves to represent Cleon, and to dramatically undermine the power of Demos

the household of the Knights is representative of the Athenian state, so whilst the Paphlagonian is a slave, he does not have to follow this strict representation

part of the humour of knights must actually come from the fact that a slave, like the paphlagonian, could have such power

Frogs concerns the blurring of identities between slave and master

the opening scene shows Xanthias riding the horse whilst his master, Dionysus, walks alongside him. Reversed roles

informed by the recent battle of Arginusae (406) in which slaves fought, to gain citizenship

the contemporary events of Arginusae provoked further questioning on the tangible differences between slave and citizen

performs on stage more than twice as long as anyone else, including his master Chremylus

In the last third of the play Carion and Chremylus alternate as the individuals receiving the new arrivals at the household, as if they are of equal status and ownership

Thucydides reports the mass desertion of slaves following the Spartan fortification of Decelea (413-404), in which over twenty thousand Athenian slaves fled

Consequently, this rendered the remaining slaves in Attica more valuable and harder to replace, thereby facilitating an increase in their agency and control

he says 'you just dare!' to Chremylus in the prologue of the play

in Acharnians, the girls sold as slaves are referred to as 'porkers' and forced to 'oink' - just used as sexual meat

Ari presents some of the slaves as immoral, Demosthenes and Nicias of Knights drink 'neat wine' on the clock

wine should be mixed with water to prevent exaggerated drunken effects, so this demonstrates a lack of self-restraint

signifier of a lower-class that is not privy to events like the symposium

however, he represents the Athenian population, or demos, and so undermining his power and intelligence is an abuse not only of the elite, but the general Athenians

in the courts, the sausage-seller mentions the low price of sardines

'by nah the cahncil were all on their feet, shahting ‘Sardines! Sardines!”

sardines, and fish generally, are representative of self-indulgence, greed and thus corruption

For example, in Frogs, when Dionysus is attempting to appear poor through his clothes, he exposes himself when he goes to shop at a fish-stall

that the council is so obsessed with sardines demonstrates their poor morality and susceptibility to corruption

the council was chosen by lot, but it is evident that this is slightly rigged - wealthy and influential men and their relatives appeared frequently in the 'random' selection

therefore this is a criticism of the both the elite and the masses

at the end of the play, he realises his mistakes in trusting the Paphlagonian, but his transformation is not absolute

the sausage-seller asks him what he would do if told, if you dont convinct this person, you wont get paid

demos, without hesitation, opts to 'chuck' the man into a 'grave', just to get the money

the sausage-seller presents him with a boy, who he is taken with

along with two 'thirty-year peace treaties' (two girls) who he plans to give 'a bit of the old thirty years'

this shows that Aristophanes is still criticising his morality at the end of the play, as nothing much has changed in the household, with the sausage-seller merely replacing the paphlagonian

however, he is aware of his position as a slave: 'I am going to take bread and meat; and when I have fed well, I shall resume my work'