XIII THE PEOPLE AND THE STATE 339
think of Dikaiopohs' contempt for the prytanes; they like
other officials were nominated by lot, 'the child of chance'j
and were ordinary fellow citizens^ though they themselves
might be pompous men feeling superior to the people.1 To
the comedians even the position of those elected to their offices
did not amount to much; in the complex process of election
the nomination and rejection could follow one another, though
sometimes lead to the election of the original candidates 3 Of
the election of the higher officers, above all the strategoi^ but
also the htfparchoi and taxwrchot) especially in war-time one of
the most important events in the democracy, the comedian
says 'three cuckoos have elected Lamachos', he was at that time
probably a taxiarch, but be that as it may5 it is clear that both
Lamachos and the election were equally derided.3 Frequently
comedy makes fun of the general mistrust shown by democracy
towards officials whom the people had themselves elected, or
of the citizens' fear of tyranny and conspiracy: 'How you see
in everything tyranny and conspirators, when somebody
brings in a charge whether large or small? I had not heard
that word ['tyranny'] for the last fifty years; now it has become
much more common than salt fish '* In comedy a prize could
even be offered for the killing of dead tyrants, and people had
to suffer for the alleged sins of their ancestors.5 The comedians
ridiculed the outdated hatred of tyranny, which in all debates
about State and constitution still took a central position, in
tragedy we find the problem discussed repeatedly and seriously 6
The privilege of comedy was to see, and to laugh at, the weak-
nesses of the idolized democracy. We should, for example,
like to know whether the comedian who called ostracism 'a
whip of potter's clay5 wished to characterize it as an efficient
and dangerous weapon or one which had been blunted; the
latter is more likely, as it gives the phrase a comic double-
meaning.7 All the helplessness of democracy, even of the more
moderate type, is depicted in the character of the proboulos^
1A 23^, 4oiF — Eur frg 989 —Andr 6yqf
3Archipp 14 3A.;98
4 W 487ff Other relevant passages K,2$7, 452, ±75$, W-345, 417,463?,
498, 5o6f? 953, B I583£F» L 6i6ff. See also above, p no
5B io74ff"—K.445ff
6 To mention a few outstanding examples from Euripides. Med
Herakl ^tf, Hik 403ff, 410$ 429$", Tro 424$ Phot* 499^,
7adesp 33