Site Library Library of Hellas

Athenian Democracy in Wasps and the Constitution of the Athenians

Both Aristophanes’ Wasps and the Old Oligarch’s Constitution of the Athenians document fifth century attitudes toward Athenian democracy. However, these works are written in very different styles and appeal to different audiences. The Constitution of the Athenians is written in a pamphlet style, and is aimed at the upper class, while Wasps is a play geared toward the masses. Despite their differences, both deal with common themes, including the dicasteries, or juries, class differences and the way the classes use and profit from each other, and the way Athens relates to the outside world, especially her allies. By comparing and contrasting these works, one can discover the bigger picture of Athenian democracy in the fifth century.

One of the key factors in the Athenian jury system is the paying of jury members. In an attempt to ensure that the composition of the juries would be representative of the Athenian population, Pericles determined that jury members should be paid three obols a day for their services. However, the pay attracted the poor, who had no other way to earn three obols, and retired older men who came to the courts for the drama unfolding there, which actually hindered Pericles’ goal (Pomeroy 1999, 343). The main character in Aristophanes’ Wasps, Philocleon, is just such an older, retired man. Philocleon’s love of jury duty has turned obsessive, and he lives to judge others (Ar. Wasps 89-96). His philosophy towards his role as a juror, though, is perhaps indicative of some of the problems within the Athenian court system. Philocleon claims, “Once at Delphi, the god, whom I was consulting, foretold, that if an accused man escaped me, I should die of consumption (Ar. Wasps 159-60).” It must be noted that he refers to an accused man, and not a guilty man. In his fever for conviction, Philocleon refuses to even consider the defense’s arguments. As Philocleon himself says before a case has even begun, “But put an end to delay by calling up the case. My verdict is already settled (Ar. Wasps 847).” Furthermore, the leaders of Athens find ways to manipulate the jury. For instance, the chorus of jurymen says, “But let us hasten, for the case of Laches comes on to-day, and they all say he has embezzled a pot of money. Hence Cleon, our protector, advised us yesterday to come early and with a three days' stock of fiery rage so as to chastise him for his crimes (Ar. Wasps 240-45).” Not only have the jurors reached a foregone conclusion about the outcome of the case, but they have been encouraged in that conclusion by Cleon, one of the Athenian leaders. Justice is an impossible goal when such attitudes prevail in the court.

Most of the Old Oligarch’s pamphlet is critical of Athenian democracy, including the courts, and the actual jury system is described as being the best it can be under the democratic system. Though the Old Oligarch claims that the court system in Athens is inefficient and cannot process all the cases that come before it, he argues against changing the system, “ . . . someone will say . . . that fewer people should do the judging. Unless they have only a few courts, there will necessarily be few jurors in each court, so that it will be easier to adapt oneself to a few jurors and to bribe them, and easier to judge much less justly (Ath. Pol. 3).” This ends up being a kind of backhanded compliment; the Athenian court system is only as good as it can be under a democracy and the only way to improve it would be to change the democratic system (Ath. Pol. 3). The Old Oligarch also finds fault with the way that allies brought to court must come to Athens to flatter and “grasp by the hand” the Athenian populace, since their verdict is in the hands of that very populace, which makes up the jury. If the allies were not made to come to Athens for legal proceedings, the Old Oligarch contends, they would only have to honor the generals, trierarchs, and ambassadors who sail to their lands. The Old Oligarch claims that in flattering the Athenian populace, the allies have become slaves. (Ath. Pol. 1). It is worth noting that the flattering of upper class men like the generals, triearchs, and ambassadors is deemed acceptable by the Old Oligarch, while it is the flattering of the masses that turns the allies into slaves.

This distinction illustrates another theme found in both Wasps and the Constitution of the Athenians. In both works not only class differences, but the way in which the classes use and profit from each other, is a central theme. However, the Old Oligarch concentrates on the deprivation of the upper class in order to benefit the lower class, while Aristophanes gives examples of the lower class being used to fulfill upper class desires. This is most apparent in Wasps when Philocleon’s son Bdelycleon is attempting to convince his father to let go of his fixation with jury duty. Philocleon is in fact of a similar mind with the Old Oligarch regarding his importance in relation to the great men of Athens. Philocleon claims, “From the moment I leave my bed, men of power . . . await me at the bar of the tribunal; the moment I am seen from the greatest distance, they come forward to offer me a gentle hand (Ar. Wasps 551-4).” He goes on to claim, “We are the only ones whom Cleon, the great bawler, does not badger. On the contrary, he protects and caresses us. . . Theorus. . .takes the sponge out of the pot and blacks our shoes. (Ar. Wasps 596-600)” Bdelycleon, however, convinces his father that he is used by these great men who, in fact, have an ulterior motive in courting the jurors’ favor. He first points out that the jurors are paid less than ten percent of the state’s revenue (Ar. Wasps 660-4). According to Bdelycleon, the rest of the money goes to the very men that Philocleon claims defer to him because of his status as a juror (Ar. Wasps 667). Bdelycleon also argues that the upper class men of the court are paid their money even if they are late to court, while a tardy juror receives nothing (Ar. Wasps 690-1). As for why this is so, Bdelycleon claims, “They want you to be poor, and I will tell you why. It is so that you may know only those who nourish you, and so that, if it pleases them to loose you against one of their foes, you shall leap upon him with fury (Ar. Wasps 704-5).” This theory fits with the quote already cited, where the jurors are ready to condemn a man at Cleon’s say-so. The upper class uses the jurors to obtain the verdict that they desire in a court case, thereby circumnavigating one of the main tenets of democracy – rule by the people.
Conversely, the Old Oligarch claims that it is the rich who are exploited by the poor. He writes,
"They [the Athenians] hate the aristocrats inasmuch as they realize that the ruler is necessarily hated by the ruled and that if the rich and aristocratic men in the cities are strong, the rule of the people at Athens will last for a very short time. This is why they disfranchise the aristocrats, take away their money, expel and kill them, whereas they promote the interests of the lower class (Ath. Pol. 1)." The Old Oligarch contends that since Athens is a democracy ruled by the people, then they must naturally hate and oppress the upper class. The Constitution of the Athenians cites other examples, such as the use of city funds to create public baths, gymnasia, temples, feasts, shrines, and sacrifices. The Old Oligarch claims that the “rabble” gets more use out of these items than the upper class, who finance their own private baths and gymnasia and are able to afford their own feasts and sacrifices (Ath. Pol. 2). The Old Oligarch seems to feel that the rich are disenfranchised by the use of public funds to create places and events that benefit the masses. Perhaps the Old Oligarch’s view of class differences in Athenian democracy can be summed up best in the following quote: “For the poor, the popular, and the base, inasmuch as they are well off and the likes of them are numerous, will increase the democracy; but if the wealthy, good men are well off, the men of the people create a strong opposition to themselves (Ath. Pol. 1).” According to the Constitution of the Athenians, Athens’ preference for the masses extends to their relations with other nations. The Old Oligarch claims that the Athenians will take the side of the masses in cities experiencing civil strife, because if they took the side of the upper class they would be supporting a group with a contrary mindset to Athens’ own (Ath. Pol. 3). The Old Oligarch actually uses this as an opportunity to get a dig in at Athens and her democracy, saying, “In no city is the superior element well disposed to the populace, but in each city it is the worst part which is well disposed to the populace. For like is well disposed to like. Accordingly the Athenians prefer those sympathetic to themselves (Ath. Pol. 3).”

Another class issue involving foreign relations which appears in both the Constitution of the Athenians and Wasps is the use of the tribute money from Athens’ allies. Not surprisingly, the Old Oligarch and Aristophanes are of different opinions concerning the issue. The Old Oligarch writes, “The rabble thinks it more advantageous for each one of the Athenians to possess the resources of the allies and for the allies themselves to possess only enough for survival and to work without being able to plot defection (Ath. Pol. 1).” In Wasps, Bdelycleon says, “We have now a thousand towns that pay us tribute; let them command each of these to feed twenty Athenians; then twenty thousand of our citizens would be eating nothing but hare, would drink nothing but the purest of milk . . . (Ar. Wasps 709-10).” Though the Old Oligarch sees the idea as a negative, while Aristophanes’ Bdelycleon sees it as a positive, the Old Oligarch and Aristophanes have both put forward the same concept as a desire of the masses. Interestingly, this is not the only feature of Athens’ foreign relations that appears in both works. Both writers agree that Athens has benefited handsomely from her trade with other peoples. The Old Oligarch writes, “The Athenians have mingled with various peoples and discovered types of luxury. Whatever the delicacy in Sicily, Italy, Cyprus, Egypt, Lydia, Pontus, the Peloponnese, or anywhere else, -- all these have been brought together into one place by virtue of naval power (Ath. Pol. 2).” Aristophanes also comments on the availability of foreign wares in Athens, using as an example Bdelycleon dressing his father in a Persian cloak and Laconian slippers (Ar. Wasps 1137, 1159). Though Aristophanes is making fun of the foreign clothes, it is obvious that both writers acknowledge that Athens has at least benefited superficially from her foreign relations.

Though the Constitution of the Athenians and Wasps were written in different formats and for different classes of people, they both give a picture of Athenian democracy in the fifth century BC. Both works discuss the problems with the jury system, though the Constitution of the Athenians obviously ascribes the shortcomings of the jury system to the failings of the democratic government, while in Wasps the individuals involved in trying and judging the cases, both prosecutors and jurymen, are at fault. However, the fact that the individuals in Wasps are able to corrupt the jury system is in itself a criticism of Athenian democracy. If the members of the upper class are pulling the people’s strings, then the people are not truly in power. Class differences are also discussed in both works, though the Old Oligarch asserts that the needs of the upper class are sacrificed for the desires of the masses, while Aristophanes claims that the masses are manipulated by the upper class members, who are still truly in power though they give a semblance of power to the populace. This class tension extends to Athens’ relationship with her allies, according to both the Old Oligarch and Aristophanes, in the form of the mass’s desire for the allies’ tribute to be used in adding to the coffers of the Athenian populace. In the end, both Aristophanes and the Old Oligarch were writing for their audiences. Each class saw themselves as the victim and the writers told them what they wanted to hear.

Words and Deeds in Thucydides

Athenian Democracy in Wasps and the Constitution of the Athenians

Underwater Excavation: Archaeology and Two Shipwrecks