Peace (play) - Historical Background - Places and People Mentioned in Peace

Places and People Mentioned in Peace

According to a character in Plutarch's Dinner-table Discussion, (written some 500 years after Peace was produced), Old Comedy needs commentators to explain its abstruse references in the same way that a banquet needs wine-waiters. Here is the wine list for Peace as supplied by modern scholars.

Athenian politicians and generals

• Cleon: The populist leader of the pro-war faction in Athens, he had recently perished in the battle for Amphipolis. He is mentioned by name only once in this play (line 47) when a member of the audience is imagined comparing him to a dung beetle on the grounds that he eats dung i.e. he's dead (excrement is a characteristic element of the Aristophanic Underworld, as represented later in The Frogs). He receives several indirect mentions (313, 648, 669, 650-56) as a Cerberus whose seething (paphlagon) and shouting might yet snatch away peace (the seething image was previously developed in The Knights, where Cleon was represented as 'Paphlagonian'), a leather merchant who had corruptly profited from war, a leather skin that stifled Athenian thoughts of peace, and a rascal, chatterer, sycophant and trouble-maker that Hermes should not revile, since Hermes (as a guide to the Underworld) is now responsible for him.
• Lamachus: He was a fearless general associated with the pro-war faction but he nevertheless ratified the Peace of Nicias. He is described here as an enemy of peace who hinders peace efforts (lines 304, 473). His son is a character who sings war-like songs. Lamachus appears as the antagonist in The Acharnians and he is mentioned in another two plays.
• Phormio: A successful Athenian admiral, he used to sleep rough on a soldier's pallet (line 347). He is mentioned in two other plays.
• Peisander: A prominent politician, he was to become an influential figure in the Athenian coup of 411 BC. His helmet is a loathsome spectacle (line 395) and there are references to him in other plays.
• Pericles: A gifted orator and politician, he provoked the war with Sparta by his Megarian decree. It is said that he did so in order to avoid being implicated in a corruption scandal involving the sculptor Pheidias (line 606). Pericles is mentioned by name in two other plays and there are also indirect references to him.
• Hyperbolus: Another populist, he succeeded Cleon as the new master of the speaker's stone on the Pnyx (line 681). He was a lampseller by trade and this enabled him to shed light on affairs of state (690). The Chorus would like to celebrate the wedding at the end by driving him out (1319). He is a frequent target in other plays.
• Theogenes: Another prominent politician, he associated with swines (line 928). His name recurs in several plays.

Athenian personalities

• Cleonymus: A frequent butt of jokes in other plays for his gluttony and cowardice, he figures here in a curse as the model of a coward (446), as a man who loves peace for the wrong reasons (673, 675) and as the father of a boy who sings lyrics by Archilochus in celebration of cowardice (1295).
• Cunna: A well-known prostitute, she has eyes that flash like those of Cleon (755). She is mentioned in another two plays.
• Arriphrades: A member of an artistic family and possibly a comic poet himself, he has been immortalized by Aristophanes here (line 883) and in other plays as an exponent of cunnilingus.
• Glaucetes, Morychus and Teleas: Gourmands, they are imagined bustling about the replenished agora in their greedy pursuit of delicacies once peace returns (line 1008). Morychus is mentioned again in The Acharnians and The Wasps, Teleas in The Birds and Glaucetes in Thesmophoriazusae

Poets and other artists

• Euripides: A tragic poet renowned for his innovative plays and pathetic heroes, he appears as a ridiculous character in The Acharnians, Thesmophoriazusae and The Frogs and he receives numerous mentions in other plays. Trygaeus is warned not to fall off his beetle or he might end up as the hero of a Euripidean tragedy (line 147) and Peace is said not to like Euripides because of his reliance on legalistic quibbling for dialogue (534). Trygaeus' flight on the dung beetle is a parody of Euripides' play Bellerephon, his daughter's appeal to him is a parody of a speech from Aeolus (114-23) and there is a deliberate misquote from his play Telephus (528). The latter play was a favourite target for parody as for example in The Acharnians and Thesmophoriazusae.
• Aesop: A legendary author of fables, he is said to have inspired Trygaeus to ascend to the home of the gods on a dung beetle (line 129). In the original fable, the dung beetle flew up to the home of the gods to punish the eagle for destroying its eggs. Zeus was minding the eagle's own eggs and the dung beetle provoked him into dropping them. There are references to Aesop in two plays.
• Sophocles: A famous tragic poet, he is mentioned here because his verses are evocative of the good times that will come with peace (line 531) even though he has become as greedy as Simonides (695-7). Sophocles is also mentioned in The Birds and The Frogs.
• Pheidias: A renowned sculptor, he is said to have been named in a corruption scandal that was really aimed at his patron Pisistratus (line 605) and Peace is said to be a beautiful relative of his i.e. she is statuesque (616).
• Simonides: A highly respected poet, he was however notorious for demanding high fees - he'd even go to sea in a sieve if the commission was right (line 697-8). There are references to him in two other plays.
• Cratinus: A comic poet often ranked with Aristophanes as a playwright, he is said to have died of a drunken apoplexy after witnessing the destruction of wine jars (line 700). He is mentioned with mock-respect in several other plays also.
• Carcinus: A tragic poet, he is said to have written an unsuccessful comedy about mice (791-5) and the Muse is urged to spurn both him and his sons - his sons, who had danced in the original performance of The Wasps, are now reviled as goat-turds devoted to theatrical stunts (lines 781-95) and they are not as fortunate as Trygaeus (864). Carcinus is mentioned in several other plays.
• Morsimus and Melanthius: Two brothers who were related to the great tragic poet Aeschylus but who were also known for gluttony (they are called 'Gorgons' and 'Harpies'), they collaborated on a play in which the latter acted stridently and both should be spat upon by the Muse (lines 801-816). Melanthius is imagined quoting melodramatically from his brother's play Medea when he learns that there are no more eels for sale (1009). Morsimus is mentioned in two more plays and Melanthius in one other play.
• Stesichorus: A famous Sicilian poet, he is quoted invoking the Muse and the Graces in a song that denounces Carcinus, Morsimus and Melanthius as inferior poets (beginning with lines 775 and 796).
• Ion: A celebrated Chian poet, he was the author of a popular song The Morning Star. Trygaeus claims to have seen him in the heavens, where he has become the Morning Star (line 835).
• Chairis: A flute player, here (line 951) as elsewhere he is an execrable musician.
• Homer: The bard of all bards, he is mentioned in this play twice by name (lines 1089, 1096) and there are frequent references to his poetry. He is fancifully misquoted by Trygaeus to prove that oracle mongers are not entitled to free meals (lines 1090-93) and there is an accurate quote from a passage in the Iliad arguing in favour of peace (1097-8). The son of Lamachus also concocts some Homer-like verses and he quotes from the introduction to Epigoni (1270), an epic sometimes attributed to Homer (now lost). Homer is mentioned by name in three other plays.
• Archilochus: A renowned poet, he once wrote an elegy making light of his own cowardice on the battle field. The son of Cleonymus quotes from it (lines 1298-99). Archilochus is mentioned by name in two other plays.

Places

• Mount Etna: A region famous for its horses, it is from here that Trygaeus obtained his dung beetle (line 73). The mountain is mentioned again in The Birds.
• Naxos: An island state, it was home to a type of boat known as a 'Naxian beetle' (line 143). The island is referred to again in Wasps.

• Peiraeus: The main port for Athens, it includes a small harbour that takes its name from the Greek for 'beetle' (lines 145) and it is the sort of place where a man might excrete in public view outside a brothel (165). It is mentioned also in Knights.
• Athmonon: A deme within the Cecropides tribe, it is an epithet for Trygaeus since he is enrolled there as a citizen. (lines 190, 919)
• Pylos: Enemy territory occupied by the Athenians, it is associated with missed opportunities for an end to the war (lines 219, 665).
• Prasiae: A Spartan territory, its name allows for a pun with 'leeks', one of the ingredients that War intends grinding in his mortar (line 242).
• Sicily: An island renowned for its wealth and its abundant resources, it was famous also for its cheeses, another ingredient in war's mortar (line 250). The island is mentioned in two other plays.
• Samothrace: A region associated with religious mysteries, as represented in the worship of the Cabeiri, it is regarded by Trygaeus as a possible source of magic spells when all else fails (line 277).
• Thrace: The northern battleground of the Peloponnesian War, it is where War lost his Spartan pestle, Brasidas (line 283). The region is also mentioned in other plays.
• Lyceum: Later famous as the school for Aristotelian philosophy, it was then a parade ground (line 356).
• Pnyx: The hill where the Athenian citizenry convened as a democratic assembly, it was topped by a monolithic rostrum called a 'bema'. Peace wants to know who is now master of the stone (line 680). The hill is mentioned in several plays.
• Brauron: An Athenian town on the east coast of Attica, it was the site of a sometimes promiscuous quadrennial festival in honour of Artemis. A slave of Trygaeus wonders if Festival is a girl he had once partied with there (line 875). The town is also referred to in Lysistrata.
• Oreus: A town on the western shore of Euboea, it is the home of the oracle monger and party-pooper, Hierocles (line 1047, 1125). He is associated with another Euboean town Elymnion (1126).
• Lake Copais: A lake in Boeotia, it is a source of eels much valued by Athenian gourmands (1005). It is mentioned for the same reason in The Acharnians.
• Sardis: Once the capital of the Lydian empire and subsequently of a Persian satrapy, it is a source of scarlet dye used to denote the cloaks of Athenian officers (line 1174). It is mentioned in two other plays.
• Cyzicus: A town on the Propontis, it is a source of saffron-coloured (or crap-coloured) dye (1176).
• Pandion's statue: A statue of a mythical king of ancient Athens, it was located in the agora as a rallying point for the Pandionid tribe (line 1183). Both Aristophanes and Cleon would have mustered here since both belonged to the Cydathenaeum deme, a branch of the Pandionid tribe.

Foreigners

• Ionians: Inhabiting region of islands and coastal cities scattered around the Aegean, they formed the core of the Athenian empire. An Ionian in the audience is imagined to say that the beetle represents Cleon since they both eat shit (line 46). The Ionian dialect allows a pun equating 'sheep' with 'oh!' (930-33).
• Medes: Brothers to the Persians and often identified with them as rivals of Greece, they benefit from the ongoing war between Athens and Sparta (line 108). They are mentioned quite often in other plays.
• Chians: Citizens of the island state of Chios, they seem to have been recent victims of an Athenian law imposing a fine of 30 000 drachmas on any allied state in which an Athenian citizen happened to be killed. They might have to pay such a fine if Trygaeus falls off his dung beetle (line 171). Chios is also the home of a popular poet, Ion (835). The island is referred to in three other plays.
• Megarians: Long-time rivals of Athens and allies of Sparta, they are the garlic in War's mortar (line 246-249), they are a hindrance to peace efforts even though they are starving (481-502) and they were the target of the Megarian decree, the original cause of the war (609). They are mentioned in other plays, but especially in The Acharnians where one of the characters is a starving Megarian farmer.
• Brasidas: Sparta's leading general, he had recently perished in the battle for Amphipolis. He is mentioned indirectly as one of the pestles that War can no longer use (line 282) and directly as somebody whose name is often brought up by corrupt politicians in accusations of treason (640). He is mentioned also in Wasps.
• Datis: A Persian general during the Persian Wars, he is imaginatively quoted as somebody who sings while masturbating (line 289) - meanwhile Trygaeus and his fellow Greeks spring into action.
• Cillicon: A traitor (from Miletus) who famously excused his treachery with the comment that he intended nothing bad. He is quoted by Trygaeus (line 363).
• Boeotians: Northern neighbours of Athens but allies of Sparta, they were hindering peace efforts (line 466) and their banned produce is fondly remembered (1003). They are mentioned in other plays and especially in The Acharnians, where one of the characters is a Boetian merchant.
• Argives: Citizens of Argos and neighbours of the Spartans, they had maintained their neutrality throughout the war and they were not assisting in peace efforts (lines 475, 493). They receive mentions in other plays.
• Thrassa and Syra: Common names for female slaves of Thracian (line 1138) and Syrian origin (1146). Thrassa is a silent character in Thesmophoriazusae and the name recurs in two other plays.
• Egyptians: An ancient and exotic people whose customs, as described by Herodotus, included the regular use of an emetic syrmaia. They are mentioned in that context here (line 1253) and they receive mentions in other plays.

Religious and cultural identities

• Pegasus: A mythical flying horse, it lends its name to the flying dung beetle (lines 76, 135, 154).
• Dioscuri: Otherwise known as Castor and Pollux, they were venerated in particular by Spartans. Trygaeus attributes the death of Brasidas to their intervention (line 285).
• Eleusinian mysteries: A mystery religion dedicated to the worship of Demeter and promising immortal life to its initiates, it included the ritual bathing of piglets. Trygaeus asks Hermes for money to buy such a piglet (374-5) and he offers to dedicate the mysteries to Hermes if he helps to secure peace (420).
• Panathenaea: The most important annual festival of Athens, it was dedicated to Athena. Trygaeus offers to dedicate it to Hermes in exchange for his help (line 418). He also offers to celebrate in his honour the Dipolia (festival of Zeus) and the Adonia (420). The Panathenaea is mentioned also in The Clouds and The Frogs. Diipoleia is also mentioned in The Clouds and Adonia in Lysistrata.
• Enyalius: An epithet of Ares, it is often used in the Iliad. The Chorus bids Trygaeus not to use this epithet in an invocation to the gods because Ares has nothing to do with peace (line 457).
• Ganymede: Zeus's cupbearer, he is said to be the future source of the ambrosia on which the dung beetle will feed in future.
• Isthmian Games: One of the great athletic festivals of ancient Greece, it was a venue for camping both by athletes and spectators. A slave of Trygaeus fondly imagine his penis sharing a tent there with Festival (line 879).
• Apaturia: A festival celebrated by Ionian Greeks, it included a day of sacrifice known as Anarrhysisor Drawing back. This word has sexual connotations for members of the Boule (line 890) in anticipation of an orgy with Festival.
• Lysimache: An epithet for Peace and the name of a contemporary priestess of Athena Polias (line 992).
• Stilbades: One of the prophets or oracle mongers that had profited from the war, he is imagined weeping from the smoke that rises from the sacrificial offering to Peace (line 1008).
• Bakis: A popular prophet and source of oracles, he is mentioned repeatedly by the oracle monger Hierocles (lines 1070-72) and Hierocles is later referred to as Bakis (1119). He is frequently cited in The Knights and he is mentioned also in The Birds
• Sibyl: A legendary prophetess, she is considered by Hierocles to be a greater authority than Homer (line 1095) and he is told to eat her (1116). She is mentioned also in The Knights.