Aristophanes' The Birds

Aristophanes' 'The Birds' was performed in 414 BC at the City Dionysia and subsequently won second place. 'The Birds' is considered to be a unique play for three reasons. The first being that there are no explicit references or mentions to the Peloponnesian War. The second reason is that there are few and limited references to Athenian politics. This second reason is interesting since this play is staged soon after the beginning of the Sicilian Expedition. The'Sicilian Expedition' was an advantageous military campaign and effort that increased Athenian commitment to war. Despite this factor, 'The Birds' have multiple implicit and indirect references to Athenian political and social life. The third reason that 'The Birds' is a unique play is because of its ability to mimic birds (see Peter Levi's Greek Drama for more on this). Aristophanes' 'The Birds' is one of the longest plays that Aristophanes wrote which is an interesting factor considering the play follows the convention of Old Comedy.

The Plot

The plot of 'The Birds' sees Pisthetaerus (who is an Athenian) convince the birds to build and create a city in the sky, so that the birds can regain their status as 'the original gods' as such. By the end of the play Pisthetaerus transforms into a bird-like god to replace Zeus as the King of the gods.

Important Information:

• Pisthetaerus means 'Trustyfriend'

• The Chorus in this play are the birds. They deliver a conventional parabasis to the audience which involves a short account of the genealogy of the gods. The birds or Chorus establish their claim to divinity by stating that the birds are children of Eros and grandchildren of Night and Erebus.

• The city in the sky is called Nephelokokkygia which means 'cloud-cuckoo-land'.

• Meton of Athens makes an appearance - he's a famous Greek mathematician, astronomer, geometer and engineer.

Historical Information

Since 'The Birds' was first performed in 414 BC, Athenians at this point were still feeling hopeful about the 'Sicillian Expedition' which began a year before. The 'Sicillian Expedition' was under the joint command of Alcibiades (who was the figure to promote this expedition) and Nicas (Athens' most experienced general at the time and who had important opposed the expedition).

Despite this feeling of hopefulness and optimism, there was a persistent controversy in Athens about 'the mutilation of the Hermai'. This was an act of vandalism, since it involved the defacing of statues to show and accuse the demos of moral hypocrisy. This was done by erasing the statues' faces which provided a clear message - Don't take anything at face value. This act of vandalism consequently started a witch-hunt which was led by religious extremists and was endorsed by the priests of the Eleusinian Mysteries, eventually leading to the persecution of rationalist thinkers including Diagoras of Melos. Some suspected Alcibiades to be involved in anti-religious activities, so much so that a ship was sent to Sicily to retrieve him so he could be put on trial. However, Alcibiades managed to escape custody, which led to a bounty being put on his head for the reward of one talent of gold to anyone who could claim responsibility for his death. It's important to remember that Alcibiades was a controversial figure in Athens and politics.

Thoughts and Discussions

- Cloudcukooland can be interpreted as a metaphor for the 'Sicilian Expedition' to demonstrate the general consensus that it was an ambitious scheme.

- Athenians are be identified with the birds and Athenian enemies are seen as the Olympian gods.

- Some think that Pisthetaerus is a metaphor for Alcibiades (See M. Vickers' 'Alcibiades on Stage: Aristophanes' "Birds"'.

Some scholars think that Cloudcukooland represents an ideal polis. Others think it can be interpreted as a cautionary example of what happens when a polis goes wrong. Another view is that the play is part of escapist entertainment.