Aristophon of Azenia

Aristophon (in Greek Aριστοφών; lived 4th century BC) was native of the deme of Azenia in Attica.rf|1|aesc1_aesc2 He lived about and after the end of the Peloponnesian war. In 412 BC, Aristophon, Laespodias, and Melesias were sent to Sparta as ambassadors by the oligarchical government of the Four Hundred.rf|2|thuc_8.86

In the archonship of Euclid, 404 BC, after Athens was delivered of the thirty Tyrants, Aristophon proposed a law which, though said to be beneficial to the republic, yet caused great uneasiness and troubles in many families at Athens; for it ordained that no one should be regarded as a citizen of Athens whose mother was not a freeborn woman.rf|3|ath_13_vl He also proposed various other laws, by which he acquired great popularity and the full confidence of the peoplerf|4|dem1. Their great number may be inferred from his own statementrf|5|aesc2 that he was accused 75 times of having made illegal proposals, but that he had always come off victorious. His influence with the people is most manifest from his accusation of Iphicrates and Timotheus, two men to whom Athens was much indebted (354 BC). He charged them with having accepted bribes from the Chians and Rhodians, and the people condemned Timotheus on the mere assertion of Aristophon.rf|6|nepos_3_aris_2.23_din1_din2

After this event, but still in 354 BC, he came forward in the assembly to defend the law of Leptines against Demosthenes. The latter, who often mentions him, treats the aged Aristophon with great respect, and reckons him among the most eloquent orators.rf|7|dem2 This event is the last record of Arstophon, and he seems to have died soon after. No record of his orations has come down to us.

References

*Smith, William (editor); "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology", [http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0325.html "Aristophon (1)"] , Boston, (1867)

Notes

ent|1|aesc1_aesc2 Aeschines, "Speeches", "Against Timarchus" , [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Aeschin.+1+64 64] , [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Aeschin.+1+158 158] , "Against Ctesiphon", [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Aeschin.+3+139 139] , [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Aeschin.+3+194 194] ent|2|thuc_8.86 Thucydides, "The Peloponnesian War", [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Thuc.+8.86.1 viii. 86] ent|3|ath_13_vl Athenaeus, "Deipnosophistae", [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Literature/Literature-idx?type=turn&entity=Literature000801890111&isize=M&q1=aristophon&pview=hide xiii. 38] ent|4|dem1 Demosthenes, "Speeches", "Against Eubulides", [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Dem.+57+32 32] ent|5|aesc2 Aeschines, "Against Ctesiphon", [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Aeschin.+3+194 194] ent|6|nepos_3_aris_2.23_din1_din2 Cornelius Nepos, "Lives of Eminent Commanders", "Timotheus", [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/nepos.htm#Timotheus 3] ; Aristotle, "Rhetoric", [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Aristot.+Rh.+2.23.1 ii. 23] ; Dinarchus, "Speeches", "Against Demosthenes", [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Din.+1+14 14] , "Against Philocles", [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Din.+3+17 17] ent|7|dem2 Demosthenes, "Against Leptines", [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Dem.+20+146 146]

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