Aristophanes

“Aristophanes is right in The Clouds: democracy automatically produces two classes of 
people--knaves and fools—and if it weren’t for the support it gets from knaves and fools, there 
would be no such thing as democracy.” To what degree, if any, is this true? In responding to 
this topic, be sure that you conceive of “democracy” in a way that is useful in considering 
Aristophanes’ play. Don’t just turn to dictionary definitions; they are merely places to start in 
thinking about the concepts you’re using. And notice: this topic is about the ideas presented in 
the play, having to do with a general concept of “democracy”; it is not about specific political 
issues in our modern “democratic” world. Some brief examples of them may be all right as 
illustrations, but don’t get carried away with discussing them.