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Aristophanes

Classical Athenian comic playwright (c. 446 – c. 386 BC)

  • Fame77.6
  • Momentum2.0
  • Writers rank#124
Source-basedStable
  • Fame77.6
  • Momentum2.0
  • Writers rank#124
  • Wikipedia29.5K
Lived -445–-385, aged 60
WritersWriter / Author
  • Wikipedia
    100 languages
    Cross-language footprint
  • Era
    -445–-385
    Aged 60
Summary
Updated 2026-06-08

He mocked Socrates on stage so effectively that Plato blamed him for the philosopher's execution. An Athenian playwright writing during the Peloponnesian War, he turned politicians, generals, and fellow writers into punchlines — and they feared him for it.

Biography

About

Aristophanes wrote forty plays starting around 446 BC, eleven of which survive as the finest examples of Old Comedy. His second work, The Babylonians, drew a denunciation from the politician Cleon for slandering Athens; Aristophanes responded by savaging Cleon onstage in The Knights and later plays, directing many himself. Performed at Athens's religious festivals — the City Dionysia and Lenaia — his work featured preposterous premises, explicit language, and biting political satire aimed at real figures like Euripides and Alcibiades. Plato would later single out The Clouds as slander that hel…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Aristophanes

Aristophanes
saidundated
Dicaepolis: Comedy too can sometimes discern what is right. I shall not please, but I shall say what is true. (tr. Athen. 1912, Perseus)
— Acharnians, line 500-501
Aristophanes
saidundated
Dicaeopolis: Well, how are things at Megara? Megarian: We are crying with hunger at our firesides. Dicaeopolis: The fireside is jolly enough with a piper.
— Acharnians, line 751-759
Aristophanes
saidundated
Lamachus: Ah! the Generals! they are numerous, but not good for much! (tr. Athen. 1912, vol. 1, Perseus)
— Acharnians, line 1078
Aristophanes
saidundated
Epops: You're mistaken: men of sense often learn from their enemies. Prudence is the best safeguard.
Aristophanes
saidundated
Epops: Yet, certainly, the wise learn many things from their enemies; for caution preserves all things.
via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA
Where to find them

Platforms

By the numbers

Score breakdown

The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.

Fame
Stable
77.6
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum2.0
Historical25.1
Now attention14.9
Source confidence65.0
Completeness65.0
Global rank
—
Country rank
—
Category rank
#124
Receipts

Sources

  • Wikipedia
    wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
    High confidence
  • Wikidata
    wikidata · wikidata.org
    High confidence
  • Pantheon 2.0
    database · pantheon.world
    High confidence