The Porous <i>Polis</i>: A Critique of Democracy in Old Comedy

It is a sustained concern for Aristophanes studies to assess the political commitments expressed in comedic poet’s dramatic corpus. Though generally synoptic describing his critique of democracy, interpretations Aristophanes’s plays diverge justifying that as affirmative democratic principles. This essay argues considering Aristophanic external principles, on account its assertion demos’s basic incapacity legitimate and effective rule. The concludes by identifying where engagement with democracy may clarify challenge theories artful discourse community supported public counterpublic studies.