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Greeks other than Athenians/Imperialism - Coggle Diagram
Greeks other than Athenians/Imperialism
Wasps
Law-courts
the Old Oligarch says that the allies feel 'compelled to flatter' the Athenian juries
this demonstrates how the Athenian empire (delian league) had extended to legal matters and made allies dependant on Athens
Philocleon says 'as if I were a god!' which shows how he is flattered as a juror
'In this way the allies have become instead the slaves of the Athenian people' (OO)
Imperialism
the generals get bribes from subject cities, whilst the ordinary citizens survive on the 'absolute pittance' that is jury pay
they get bribes of: 'pickle, wine, cheese…every other conceivable luxury’
the citizens are those that have defended the city - ‘this empire you’ve toiled and fought for’
'empire' probs refers to Delian League founded in 478BC
Persia
chorus of the wasps boast about their sacrifice against the Persians, in the parabasis (so most likely the opinion of the playwright)
'it was we who served the city best when those barbarians came’
‘there’s nothing so ferocious as an Attic wasp’
shows that athenian engagement with the world’s other major superpower was a basis of pride
Athens is also exploitative:
they appropriate foreign goods
Bdelycleon gives Philocleon a Persian cloak and Spartan shoes to wear to the symposium
shows an exploitative relationship - an appropriation of culture whilst simultaneously destroying them in battle
'if the tribute-money still flows into the imperial till...its thanks to our exertions' shows that empire was gained by sacrifice of the fighters
Acharnians
best evidence for how other Greeks are presented, because includes the Spartans and the Megarians
Megarians
Aristophanes posits that Pericles started the Peloponnesian War by refusing to lift the Megarian Decree
This prohibited the Megarians from selling in Athenian markets
as a result, the Megarians were 'slowly starving'
One Megarian man sold his daughters as 'piggies' for a bunch of garlic and two pints of salt
presents the Megarians as desperate and unable to be self-sufficient, they were previously reliant on Athens
so Aristophanes satirises the negative effects of Athenian imperialism, suggests he disagrees with this policy
Spartans
presented rather sympathetically, as Aristophanes doesn't wholly blame the Peloponnesian War on them, but a handful of athenians, and the Megarian decree
dikaiopolis, the mouthpiece of Aristophanes or at least his producer Callistratus, says that the Spartans asked several times to end the Megarian decree, and the Athenians refused
Dikaiopolis and luxury
at the end of the play, Dikaiopolis is comically contrasted with Lamachus
when Lamachus is called to battle, Dikaiopolis is invited to a symposium
when Lamachus returns wounded - not by a human but by a stake in a ditch - he is contrasted with Dikaiopolis who returns drunks with girls
the end of the play is a celebration of Dikaiopolis as 'champion' for securing his personal peace, another instance wherein Dikaiopolis and Aristophanes merge, as he also wishes to be 'champion' of the Lenaia
therefore, Dikaiopolis' mode of imperialism and consumption is celebrated
Birds
performed at Lenaia of 414, the midpoint of the Sicilian Expedition
the comic city in the air - Cloud Cuckoo land - parallels and transcends the Athenian Empire
two men leave Athens as it is too litigious, and seek a new land
but inevitably they are guided by hubris, they want to create a city between the earth and heaven so they can intercept the dedications to the gods, and thus be more powerful than the gods
this shows the hubris of imperialism, as directly linked to the Sicilian Expedition
sexual imagery
the possibility of imperial expansion is defined as a political conquest only performed by men
the state is perceived as a heterosexual man with no points of entry, whereas the conquered land is like a female with legs wide open
the new city in the clouds is represented as a female object of desire, both Peisetaerus and Euelpides have been looking forward to it
similarly, in Pericles' funeral Oration by Thucydides, he encourages the citizens to take Athens as their lover
conquest can always be described in sexual terms, which has gross implications of rape and unbalanced power dynamics, so suggests Aristophanes is here against it
when the name 'cloudcuckooville' is decided, it is declared 'beautiful'