Cleonymus () was a political ally of
Cleon
Cleon (; ''Kleon'' ; died 422 BCE) was an Athenian politician and general (''strategos'') during the Peloponnesian War. The son of Cleaenetus, a wealthy tanner, Cleon was among the first prominent Athenian politicians of the 5th century BCE to ...
and an Athenian general. In 424 BC, Cleonymus had dropped his shield in battle and fled and was branded a coward. This act is often used to comic effect by
Aristophanes
Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...
.
References
*Martin Ostwald
''From Popular Sovereignty to the Sovereignty of Law: Law, Society and Politics in Fifth-Century Athens.''University of California Press
The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...
, 1990. ; pp. 205–206; p. 231
*
Aristophanes
Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...
, ''
The Birds'', 289-290. (Translated by Peter Meineck)
''Aristophanes 1 : Clouds, Wasps, Birds.''Hackett Publishing Company, 1998.
5th-century BC Athenians
Ancient Athenian generals
Athenians of the Peloponnesian War
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