Il simposio immaginato e un convitato di pietra (Vesp. 1219-1248)

Abstract · The imagined symposium and a Stone Guest (Wasps 1129-1248) · In Wasps, and especially in the agon, it is the delusions of power, which bind the Heliaia to the entirety of demos and to that concept of demos tyrannos, which, though resulting from the original demonization of tyranny, was perceived during the Peloponnesian War as an expression of the imperialistic policy of Athens, that have a dramatically decisive role and relevance. But, in the unravelling of the comic plot, tyranny has a more pervasive and ambiguous substance: on one side, the son censors it as the object of unfounded phobias and democratic propaganda, and, on the other side, in the scene of the virtual symposium (vv. 1219-1248), it is the father, a long-time supporter of the democratic regime, who completely changes his mind, suggesting with subtle, precious hints that is it actually Cleon, a defector of the aristocratic side, who has tyrannical ambitions, worthy of Peisistratos and Pittacus.