ARISTOPHANES' VIEWS ON WAR AND PEACE
             "Aristophanes hated war, among other reasons, for it's stupidity, it's corruption, it's waste, and dearth." (Dickinson 7) Aristophanes lived during a period of sustained violence. The Peloponnesian War between the Greek city/states Athens and Sparta lasted, with an interval of uneasy peace, from 431-404 B.C. By the end of the war, the Athenian Empire had been destroyed and the whole nature of the people of Athens had changed dramatically. The result of this horrific civil war troubled nearly everyone, in particular Aristophanes. Fortunately, Aristophanes had the vehicle to portray his, along with society's, long time hunger for peace. He was a responsible citizen and he believed that he as a poet, had to bring his ideas and feelings on the fall of Athens and war to the forefront. He loved the city/state, and therefore spoke to the city as a whole. Through his plays The Acharnians, The Peace, and Lysistrata, this desire for the hostility to end is clearly seen.
             The Acharnians reflects the conditions in Athens during the sixth year of the Peloponnesian War. Pericles, the general of the Athenian army, had a very definitive war strategy. It was to defeat the enemy quickly by maintaining control of the seas without risking a land battle with the superior Spartan army. So in effect, the area around Athens was pretty much surrendered to the enemy. This caused all the farmers of Attica to retreat within the city walls and watch as the Spartan invaders ravaged their fields. These citizens suffered as much from the added expense and discomfort of city life, as they did from the loss of their crops (Dover 31). But by 425, Pericles was dead and unfortunately for the refugees, the war continued on with no end in sight. This is where the play The Acharnians begins.
             Dicaeopolis, the hero in The Acharnians, is just such a refugee in the city. In the pr...