Aristophanes
<p><b >Aristophanes</b> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" title="Help:IPA for English" >/</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ˌ</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >æ</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >r</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ɨ</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ˈ</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >s</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >t</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ɒ</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >f</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ə</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >n</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >iː</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >z</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" title="Help:IPA for English" >/</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" title="Help:IPA for English" >/</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ˌ</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ɛ</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >r</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ɨ</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ˈ</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >s</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >t</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ɒ</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >f</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ə</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >n</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >iː</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >z</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" title="Help:IPA for English" >/</a>;<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristophanes#cite_note-2" >[2]</a></sup> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language" title="Greek language" >Greek</a>: Ἀριστοφάνης, <small >pronounced </small><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Greek" title="Help:IPA for Greek" >[aristopʰánɛːs]</a>; c. 446 BC – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deme" title="Deme" >deme</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kydathenaion" title="Kydathenaion" >Cydathenaeum</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristophanes#cite_note-3" >[3]</a></sup>was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedy" title="Comedy" >comic</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playwright" title="Playwright" >playwright</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Athens" title="Classical Athens" >ancient Athens</a>. Eleven of his thirty plays survive virtually complete. These, together with fragments of some of his other plays, provide the only real examples of a genre of comic drama known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_comedy" title="Ancient Greek comedy" >Old Comedy</a>, and they are used to define the genre.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristophanes#cite_note-4" >[4]</a></sup> Also known as <i >the Father of Comedy</i><sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristophanes#cite_note-5" >[5]</a></sup> and <i >the Prince of Ancient Comedy</i>,<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristophanes#cite_note-6" >[6]</a></sup> Aristophanes has been said to recreate the life of ancient Athens more convincingly than any other author.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristophanes#cite_note-7" >[7]</a></sup> His powers of ridicule were feared and acknowledged by influential contemporaries; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato" title="Plato" >Plato</a><sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristophanes#cite_note-8" >[8]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristophanes#cite_note-9" >[9]</a></sup> singled out Aristophanes' play <i ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clouds" title="The Clouds" >The Clouds</a></i> as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slander" title="Slander" class="mw-redirect" >slander</a> that contributed to the trial and subsequent condemning to death of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates" title="Socrates" >Socrates</a> although other <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates#Satirical_playwrights" title="Socrates" >satirical playwrights</a><sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristophanes#cite_note-10" >[10]</a></sup> had also caricatured the philosopher. His second play, <i >The Babylonians</i> (now lost), was denounced by the demagogue<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleon" title="Cleon" >Cleon</a> as a slander against the Athenian <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polis" title="Polis" >polis</a>. It is possible that the case was argued in court but details of the trial are not recorded and Aristophanes caricatured Cleon mercilessly in his subsequent plays, especially <i ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Knights" title="The Knights" >The Knights</a></i>, the first of many plays that he directed himself. "In my opinion," he says through the Chorus in that play, "the author-director of comedies has the hardest job of all." (κωμῳδοδιδασκαλίαν εἶναι χαλεπώτατον ἔργον ἁπάντων)<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristophanes#cite_note-11" >[11]</a></sup></p>