Demos of Pnyx: the Athenian assembly in Aristophanes' Knights

This paper studies the representation of the assembly in Aristophanes' Knights, considering the circumstances in which it was staged and focusing on the character of Demos of Pnyx. It investigates the connection between spaces that the play molds and it postulates a dialectics between leaders and Demos that emphasizes the sovereign authority of the latter, who ultimately submitted them to accountability. Finally, an examination of the senses of the term demos is developed from modem discussions on the political vocabulary, highlighting the existence of meanings in tension that, as with Demos as a comic character, designated the conflicts that went through to the people as the body politic.