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Primary sourceBook425 BC

The Acharnians

Aristophanes · 425 BC

A comedy by Aristophanes that mocks Pericles over the Megarian Decree and his relationship with Aspasia.

This comedy mocks Pericles personally, preserving a hostile, satirical view of him among ordinary Athenians.

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Dark red cloth book cover with a white library label at upper left. The label has a barcode and the printed text 'UC Southern Regional Library Facility' with the number AA 000 536 844 4.
Aristophanes, The Acharnians, 425 BC.

About this source

What it is

The Acharnians is a comic play by the Athenian playwright Aristophanes, first performed in 425 BC during the Peloponnesian War. It follows an Athenian citizen who secures a private peace with Sparta and enjoys its benefits despite opposition from fellow citizens.

Why it matters

The play mocks Pericles, calling him 'Olympian' and blaming him for starting the war through the Megarian Decree and his personal life involving Aspasia. Written by a contemporary while Pericles' policies were still being felt, it preserves how ordinary Athenians who opposed the war might have viewed their leader, offering a hostile, satirical counterpoint to Thucydides' more admiring portrait.

Look closer

  • Why might comedy be used to criticize a powerful leader when direct criticism was risky?
  • How does a satirical attack differ from a historian's account of the same person?
  • What does blaming a leader for a war's hardships through humor tell us about public opinion at the time?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Pericles on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Manuscript page in Greek handwriting with a decorative heading at top, showing the text of a speech in dense lines of script on aged parchment with marginal notes at left and right edges.Speech

Secondary source

Pericles' Funeral Oration

Thucydides · 431/430 BCE

Photograph of the Parthenon temple on the Athenian Acropolis, seen from the front-left under a deep blue sky. White marble Doric columns and a partly damaged pediment stand on a stepped base, with scattered marble blocks and ruins in the foreground.Artifact

Primary source

Parthenon

447-432 BCE

Marble bust of a bearded man wearing a tall Corinthian-style helmet with a raised crest and cheek guards. Curly hair and beard are carved in detail. The bust rests on a tan stone pedestal against a grey wall.Sculpture

Secondary source

Pericles with the Corinthian Helmet

Kresilas · Roman copy, from a Greek original near Pericles' lifetime

Facsimile page of Greek manuscript handwriting in minuscule script, nine lines of dark ink on white, headed 'Facsimile No. 57', with a transcription and caption 'Thucydides.—Tenth Century' below.Book

Primary source

History of the Peloponnesian War

Thucydides · 5th century BCE

Book

Secondary source

Life of Pericles

Plutarch

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