The Acharnians

The Acharnians is a hilarious satire, and an indictment of unnecessary war. The play follows the attempts of the hero Dicaeopolis to make a personal peace with the Spartans even though his native city of Athens is fighting in the Peloponnesian War. After side-stepping informers, the Athenian Assembly, a quarrelsome general, and the playwright Euripides, Dicaeopolis convinces the Chorus of Acharnians (coal-miners who have lost everything in the Spartan invasions), that maybe Athens' war isn't serving their interests after all.

The Acharnians is the oldest surviving play by Greek comedic playwright Aristophanes, and is thought to be a spirited response to the critical reception of a lost earlier play, The Babylonians. Written and produced in the sixth year of the Peloponnesian War, the play pokes fun at many historical figures and makes reference to events that would have been very much relevant to the life and times of an Athenian audience.