The Lawcourts of Aristophanes

Abstract

The article examines the Athenian courts depicted in Aristophanes’
comedies, comparing fiction and reality. The satirical depiction of
courts in works such as Wasps and Ecclesiazusae highlights the prominent
role played by popular courts in Athenian society and political
culture between the late 5th a nd e arly 4th centuries BCE, a period in
which contemporary judicial reforms introduced the system of drawing
lots for judges. Despite numerous literary and epigraphic sources
and some finds in the Kerameikos Agora, the topographical location of
these structures remains uncertain and a matter of debate, both due to
the ambiguity of the texts and the lack of definitive archaeological evidence.
The relationship between the courts and other public buildings,
such as the stoai of the Kerameikos agora or the structures on the eastern slope of the Acropolis, including the Prytaneion, the Odeion of Pericles,
and the Thesmotheion, is particularly evident. The contribution therefore
invites to reflect both on the multifunctional nature of the structures
that housed the popular courts and on the complexity of Athenian
judicial topography, leaving some interpretative questions open.