Aristophanes' The Wasps

Just like Aristophanes' The Frogs, The Wasps was produced at the Lenaia festival, but in 422 BCE. Just as in Aristophanes' earlier plays, Aristophanes satirizes Cleon - an Athenian general and demagogue. Moreover, Aristophanes mocks the law courts - one of the organization that enabled and provided Cleon with his power, thereby placing The Wasps under the category of 'Old Comedy'.

In the play, Bdelycleon (Philocleon's son) arranges for Philocleon to have a court at home. However, since the first case is ridiculous, since it accuses the house dog of stealing the cheese, Philocleon is then 'cured' as such from his passion for the law courts and becomes a boastful drunk. Ultimately, the play's main action is to target Cleon the politican and his exploitation of the Athenian system concerning large juries.

Just as the understanding of the political context and landscape of the Aristophanes' The Frogs is integral to understanding the play and its core values, this also applies to The Wasps. In this play, Aristophanes promotes conservative values and supports peace with Sparta. Additionally, Cleon had attempted to prosecute Aristophanes for intentionally slandering the polis (the city) within one of his plays - The Babylonians.

Moreover, to understand some of the political contexts that are at play, below is a list of dates that influenced The Wasps:

- 431: The Peloponnesian War

- 426: Aristophanes won first prize at the City Dionysia for his play The Babylonians and as a result was prosecuted by Cleon for slandering the polis

- 425: Athens was victorious against Sparta in the Battle of Sphacteria, which Cleon then claimed was all down to him

- 424: Aristophanes won first prize at the Lenaia for The Knights

- 423: Athens and Sparta had a 1 year truce and Aristophanes' The Clouds came third and therefore last

- 422: The Wasps won second place at the Lenaia.

Cleon was a populist leader of the pro-war faction in Athens and is famously portrayed as the villain in most of Aristophanes' plays. Despite the fact that Aristophanes promises that he won't make fun of Cleon again, Aristophanes continues to do so and is verbally abused in most of his plays.

Many scholars think of The Wasps as Aristophanes' best comedy for some reasons that include:

- Philocleon

- The jurors and their depiction as the Chorus of Old Comedy

- The juror's son is thought to be the most lifelike child in Greek drama