Abstract

SCHERE, María Jimena. The Deceived Deceiverʼs Motif in Aristophanes' Knights. Nova tellus [online]. 2012, vol.30, n.1, pp.19-41. ISSN 0185-3058.

The deceived deceiverʼs motif is developed around a negative character who exploits deception. However, he is eventually overcome by a positive character surpassing him in cleverness and moral quality. In his Knights, Aristophanes takes up the traditional motif, which is known from genres such as epic, fable, and iambic poetry, and uses it strategically to debase the public image of the most prominent leader of the time, the demagogue Cleon. Through the use of this motif, its negative traits are projected upon the leaderʼs figure with the support of a long literary tradition.

Keywords : Topic; deceived deceiver; argumentative strategy; literary tradition; Cleon.