Aristophanes, the most famous of the Greek comic playwrights, was born around 450 BCE. He came from a wealthy family and was well-educated in Athenian literature and philosophy. When he was 17, he began submitting his plays to dramatic competitions. His plays belong to the Greek tradition of Old Comedy. His primary way of satirizing events was by making the actions of people in elevated positions seem ridiculous and poorly considered. He often wrote plays that reflected the political realities of Athens. In The Knights, for instance, he wrote a character that was meant to stand in for an Athenian leader. The character is an avaricious slave to a rather unintelligent master, who...
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