Emergenza e manipolazione dell’opinione pubblica nelle Ecclesiazuse di Aristofane. Salvare Atene da cosa?

This paper intends to provide new evidence to support the thesis which recognises a primary interest in the topicality of Athens in Aristophanes’ last comic production. It therefore focuses on the case of Ecclesiazusae and on the rhetoric of soteria. Starting from 411 BCE, the slogan of soteria tes poleos became recurrent in Athenian political language: the opposing factions tried to lay claim to the theme of salvation, ascribing the ability to overcome the emergency to their political manifesto. This opposition is evident in Ecclesiazusae, where Aristophanes does not simply recall traumatic events but uses the case of soteria in a continuous dialogue between Athens’ past and the present. The numerous occurrences of the concept do not seem fortuitous in 392/391, during a new war between Athens and Sparta. The aim of this paper is to prove that the references to the Athenian past, to the institutional irregularities and the recovery of the theme of soteria, represented the denunciation of oligarchic manipulation to undermine democratic institutions from within, and also the demagogic action of popular leaders. They even used the slogan of salvation to impose their political vision: in conclusion, this was the real emergency from which the polis had to be saved.