Resumen de Democratic criticism in Aristophanes

J. Miller

• Critics frequently describe Aristophanes as strongly critical of Athenian democracy. This paper argues that the sorts of criticisms Aristophanes levelled at Athens' democratic institutions, far from representing only elite or oligarchic complaints about democracy, are in fact: (a) common among democratic sources; (b) can be reconciled with, accounted for, and responded to within Athenian democratic theory; and (c) demonstrate that Aristophanes' plays are better viewed as ideologically consistent with and supportive of Athenian democracy.