How to avoid being akomodoumenos

Abstract

This paper is based on two separate, though partly overlapping, registers (Registers I and II) of male Athenian citizens known to have been in the public eye between theyears 432/1 and 405/4 B.C., inclusive. Register I comprises those who are known inthis period to have held important elective public office, or to have proposed andcarried resolutions in the Assembly; a total of 176 persons. These are singled out fromthe much wider range of ‘officials’, most of them chosen by lot, to be found in theprosopography of Develin 1989, because they are those who actively, and in somemeasure successfully, competed for the political favour of the Athenian public. Theimportant elective public offices I take to be those of general, proboulos (in 413–411), member of any embassy, and delegate for swearing to an international treaty. Register II comprises those who are known in this period to have been referred to asindividuals in Athenian comedies; a total of 224 persons. Both lists inevitably havesomewhat fuzzy edges, mainly over questions of identification and dating; doubtfulcases are briefly discussed in the notes to the Registers. Probably no other scholar willagree with every one of my decisions in these matters, but the general validity of thepicture here presented is unlikely to be affected. Within Register II can be identifiedtwo small but important subgroups: those who are referred to not, as is normal, fordisparagement but for praise; and those to whom is devoted an entire play or a largepart of one. I will be returning to these.

Envy and Jealousy in Classical Athens

“…24 Allegations made as part of onomasti kômôidein may or may not have been true -see Halliwell (1984). 25 Sommerstein (1996) 327-31 compares the list of 224 kômôidoumenoi we know about in the period 432/1-405/4, and the 176 people who either held elective office or proposed Assembly resolutions in this period. He finds that 37% (65/176) of the politicians are mentioned by name in comedy, including 26% (32/122) of those who "took a prominent role in politics only on one occasion", but 61% (33/54) of those who did so on more than one occasion.…”

“…40 This passage serving to characterise him as a demotic hero. 41 Sommerstein (1996) 328: "of thirty-six known ambassadors of the Peloponnesian War period, twenty-two or 61% are mentioned in comedy." undercurrent of popular resentment against the (supposedly) cushy life ambassadors led while in post.…”

“…Comic poets were in the habit of picking out the leading political figure for humiliation: e.g. Perikles in Kratinos' Dionysalexandros, or Hyperbolos in Eupolis' Marikas -see Sommerstein (1996) 335.…”

Sport, War and Democracy in Classical Athens

“…The plays of old comedy give the impression that 'anyone and everyone in the public eye' was subject to comic ridicule'. [20] However, the comprehensive study of known k4moidoumenoi ('targets of comic ridicule') by Alan Sommerstein shows that one group of conspicuous Athenians escaped the personal abuse of old comedy: the city's athletes. [21] Admittedly comic poets recognized the wrestling school as 'the prime arena of pederastic courtship' and occasionally poked fun at the homosexual predilections of athletes and their hearty eating habits.…”

“…[20] However, the comprehensive study of known k4moidoumenoi ('targets of comic ridicule') by Alan Sommerstein shows that one group of conspicuous Athenians escaped the personal abuse of old comedy: the city's athletes. [21] Admittedly comic poets recognized the wrestling school as 'the prime arena of pederastic courtship' and occasionally poked fun at the homosexual predilections of athletes and their hearty eating habits. [22] In contrast to their general treatment of other upper-class activities, however, they did not subject athletics to sustained parody or direct criticism and clearly assumed this pursuit to be an overwhelming good thing.…”