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Lesson 1 (from Acharnians)

Objective

Acharnians

Aristophanes wrote Acharnians to persuade the people of Athens to stop the Peloponnesian War which was threatening to destroy Athens and in fact, did lead to its downfall. The objective of this lesson is to discuss the purpose of Acharnians and Aristophanes' use of parabasis in Old Comedy.

Lesson

1) Individual Work: Find a definition. Students need to find the definition of the word parabasis. The first person who comes up with the correct definition needs to explain the following: Given that the word parabasis comes from the verb meaning "to step aside," what does this mean for the main action of the play? Why does this put more emphasis on Aristophanes' message?

2) Class Discussion: In the Old Comedy the typical structure has plot development that includes a leading character with an impractical solution, the entrance of someone non-human, the debate of the impractical solution, an...

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