Emergenza e manipolazione dell’opinione pubblica nelle Ecclesiazuse di Aristofane. Salvare Atene da cosa?
Keywords:
Aristophanes, Ecclesiazusae, soteria, memory, manipulation
Abstract
This paper intends to provide new evidence to support the thesis which recognises a primary interest in the topicality of Athens in Aristophanes’ last comic production. It therefore focuses on the case of Ecclesiazusae and on the rhetoric of soteria. Starting from 411 BCE, the slogan of soteria tes poleos became recurrent in Athenian political language: the opposing factions tried to lay claim to the theme of salvation, ascribing the ability to overcome the emergency to their political manifesto. This opposition is evident in Ecclesiazusae, where Aristophanes does not simply recall traumatic events but uses the case of soteria in a continuous dialogue between Athens’ past and the present. The numerous occurrences of the concept do not seem fortuitous in 392/391, during a new war between Athens and Sparta. The aim of this paper is to prove that the references to the Athenian past, to the institutional irregularities and the recovery of the theme of soteria, represented the denunciation of oligarchic manipulation to undermine democratic institutions from within, and also the demagogic action of popular leaders. They even used the slogan of salvation to impose their political vision: in conclusion, this was the real emergency from which the polis had to be saved.
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References
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Ussher, Robert G. (1973), Aristophanes. Ecclesiazusae, Oxford, Clarendon Press.
Vetta, Massimo (1989), Aristofane. Le donne all’Assemblea. Traduzione di D. Del Corno, Milano, Mondadori, Fondazione Lorenzo Valla.
Zeitlin, Froma I. (1999), ‘Aristophanes: The Performance of Utopia in the Ecclesiazousae’, in Goldhill,
Simon; Osborne, Robert (eds.), Performance Culture and Athenian Democracy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Zumbrunnen, John (2006), ‘Fantasy, Irony, and Economic Justice in Aristophanes’ Assemblywomen and Wealth’, The American Political Science Review 100 (3), 319-333.
Bearzot, Cinzia S. (2006), ‘Atene nel 411 e nel 404 a.C. Tecniche del colpo di stato’, in Urso, Gianpaolo (ed.), Terror et pavor. Violenza, intimidazione, clandestinità nel mondo antico. Atti del Convegno, Cividale del Friuli 22-24 settembre 2005, Pisa, ETS, 21-64.
Bearzot, Cinzia S. (2013), ‘Soteria oligarchica e soteria democratica tra 411 e 404’, in Cusumano, Nicola; Motta, Daniela (eds.), Xenia. Studi in onore di Lia Marino, Caltanissetta-Roma, Salvatore Sciascia Editore, 113-122.
Bearzot, Cinzia S. (2014), ‘Spazio politico e spazio della sovversione’, in Angeli Bernardini, Paola (ed.), La città greca. Gli spazi condivisi. Convegno del Centro Internazionale di studi sulla grecità antica, Urbino 26-27 settembre 2012, Pisa-Roma, Fabrizio Serra Editore, 93-106.
Bertelli, Lucio (2013), ‘Democracy and Dissent: The Case of Comedy’, in Arnason, Johann P.; Raaflaub, Kurt A.; Wagner, Peter (eds.), The Greek Polis and the Invention of Democracy: A Politico-cultural Transformation and its Interpretations, Chichester, John Wiley & Sons, 99-125.
Canfora, Luciano (2005) [2001], Critica della retorica democratica, Roma, Laterza.
Canfora, Luciano (2014), La crisi dell’utopia: Aristofane contro Platone, Roma-Bari, Laterza.
Canfora, Luciano (2018), Cleofonte deve morire. Teatro e politica in Aristofane, Roma-Bari, Laterza.
Capra, Andrea (2010), Aristofane. Donne al Parlamento. Introduzione, traduzione e commento, Roma, Carocci.
Cloché, Paul (1920), ‘Le Conseil athénien des Cinq Cents et la peine de mort’, Revue des Études Grecques 33 (151), 1-50.
Cozzoli, Umberto (1984), ‘Relazioni fra Atene e Sparta nelle prospettive di Aristofane’, in Lanzillotta, Eugenio (ed.), Problemi di storia e cultura spartana, Roma, G. Bretschneider, 121-142.
Daverio Rocchi, Giovanna (1978), Senofonte. Elleniche, Rusconi, Milano.
De Luca, Kenneth M. (2005), Aristophanes’ Male and Female Revolutions. A Reading of Aristophanes’ Knights and Assemblywomen, Lanham, Lexington books.
Halliwell, Stephen (1991), ‘Comic Satire and Freedom of Speech in Classical Athens’, The Journal of Hellenic Studies 111, 48-70.
Hansen, Mogens Herman (1998), Eisangelia: la sovranità del tribunale popolare ad Atene nel IV secolo a.C. e l’accusa contro strateghi e politici, Torino, Giappichelli (Eisangelia: The Sovereignty of the People’s Court in Athens in the Fourth Century B.C. and the Impeachment of Generals and
Politicians, Odense, Odense University Press, 1975).
Henderson, Jeffrey (1991), ‘Women and the Athenian Dramatic Festivals’, Transactions of the American Philological Association 121, 133-147.
Henderson, Jeffrey (1993), ‘Comic Hero Versus Political Élite’, in Sommerstein, Alan H.; Halliwell, Stephen; Henderson, Jeffrey; Zimmermann, Bernhard (eds.), Tragedy, Comedy and the Polis: Papers from the Greek Drama Conference, Nottingham, 18-20 July 1990, Bari, Levante, 307-319.
Imperio, Olimpia (2014), ‘Utopie antiche (e moderne) tra commedia e filosofia: a proposito di Aristofane, Ecclesiazuse, vv. 76-8’, Dionysus ex Machina 5, 77-92.
Macdowell, Douglas M. (1995), Aristophanes and Athens. An introduction to the Plays, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Mastromarco, Giuseppe (1994), Introduzione a Aristofane, Roma-Bari, Laterza.
Moodie, Erin K. (2012), ‘Aristophanes, the Assemblywomen and the Audience: The Politics of Rapport’, The Classical Journal 107 (3), 257-281.
Natalicchio, Antonio (1996), Atene e la crisi della democrazia. I Trenta e la querelle Teramene/Cleofonte, Bari, Dedalo.
Orth, Christian (2015), ‘Vier- und mehrsilbige Wörter in den iambischen Trimetern von Aristophanes’ Acharnern’, in Taufer, Matteo (ed.), Studi sulla commedia attica, Freiburg i.Br.-Berlin-Wien, Rombach Verlag, 103-128.
Reale, Giovanni (2000), Platone. Apologia di Socrate, Milano, Bompiani.
Rhodes, Peter J. (1972), The Athenian Boule, Oxford, Clarendon Press.
Rothwell, Kenneth S. Jr. (1990), Politics and Persuasion in Aristophanes’ Ecclesiazusae, Leiden, Brill.
Ruffell, Isabel A. (2006), ‘A Little Ironic, Don’t You Think? Utopian Criticism and the Problem of Aristophanes’ Late Plays’, in Kozak, Lynn; Rich, John (eds.), Playing Around Aristophanes, Oxford, Aris & Phillips, 65-104.
Scholtz, Andrew (2007), Concordia Discors: Eros and Dialogue in Classical Athenian Literature, Washington D.C., Center for Hellenic Studies.
Seager, Robin (1967), ‘Thrasybulus, Conon and Athenian Imperialism, 396-386 B.C.’, The Journal of Hellenic Studies 87, 95-115.
Sommerstein, Alan H. (1998), Aristophanes. Ecclesiazusae, Warminster, Aris & Phillips.
Sordi, Marta (1981), ‘Teramene e il processo delle Arginuse’, Aevum 65, 3-12.
Taillardat, Jean (1964), ‘Deux exemples de jeu verbal chez Aristophane. I. Assemblée des femmes, v. 76-81. II. Paix, v. 1232-1234’, Revue de Philologie, de Littérature et d’Histoire Anciennes 38, 38-44.
Tordoff, Rob (2017), ‘Memory and the Rhetoric of ΣΩΤΗΡΙΑ in Aristophanes’ Assembly Women’, in Baragwanath, Emily; Foster, Edith (eds.), Clio and Thalia: Attic Comedy and Historiography, Newcastle, Histos, 153-210.
Tuci, Paolo A. (2002), ‘La boulé nel processo agli strateghi della battaglia delle Arginuse: questioni procedurali e tentativi di manipolazione’, in Ambaglio, Dino (ed.), Syngraphé. Materiali e appunti per lo studio della storia e della letteratura antica, 3, Como, Edizioni New Press, 51- 85.
Ussher, Robert G. (1973), Aristophanes. Ecclesiazusae, Oxford, Clarendon Press.
Vetta, Massimo (1989), Aristofane. Le donne all’Assemblea. Traduzione di D. Del Corno, Milano, Mondadori, Fondazione Lorenzo Valla.
Zeitlin, Froma I. (1999), ‘Aristophanes: The Performance of Utopia in the Ecclesiazousae’, in Goldhill,
Simon; Osborne, Robert (eds.), Performance Culture and Athenian Democracy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Zumbrunnen, John (2006), ‘Fantasy, Irony, and Economic Justice in Aristophanes’ Assemblywomen and Wealth’, The American Political Science Review 100 (3), 319-333.
Published
2020-12-31
How to Cite
Usai, F. (2020). Emergenza e manipolazione dell’opinione pubblica nelle Ecclesiazuse di Aristofane. Salvare Atene da cosa?. Rhesis. International Journal of Linguistics, Philology and Literature, 11(1), 222-230. https://doi.org/10.13125/rhesis/5640
Section
Articoli
