[4] The appeal which Harpagon makes to the audience to help him to discover the thief who has stolen his money (‘L’Avare,’ act iv. sc. 7) is an exact parallel with that of the two slaves in ‘The Knights’ (see p. 18), and again in ‘The Wasps,’ when they come forward and consult them confidentially in their difficulties. [5] The Knights, I. 233. [6] The Clouds. [7] The Frogs, l. 1073. [8] Alluding to the passion of the Athenian citizens for the law-courts, in which the verdict was given by depositing in the ballot-boxes a black or white bean or pebble. [9] This affair at Pylos is so repeatedly alluded to in this comedy, that at the risk of telling what to many readers is a well-known story, some explanation must be given here. About six months before this performance took place, a detachment of four hundred Spartans, who had been landed on the little island of Sphacteria, which closes in the Bay of Pylos (the modern Navarino), had been cut off by an Athenian squadron under Eurymedon and Demosthenes, and were closely blockaded there, in the hope of starving them into surrender. The Spartans offered terms of peace, for the men were all citizens of Sparta itself, and their loss would have been a calamity to the state. The proposal was refused by the triumphant Athenians; but afterwards the blockade was not maintained effectively, and the capitulation became doubtful. At this juncture, Cleon came forward in the Assembly, and boasted loudly that, if the command were given to him, he would bring the men prisoners to Athens within twenty days. He was taken at his word; and possibly to his own surprise, and certainly to the dismay of his political opponents, he made his boast good. The constant sneers at this exploit on the part of Cleon’s enemies seem to prove that it was not the mere piece of good luck which they represented it. [10] “A general feature of human nature, nowhere more observable than among boys at school, where the poor timid soul is always despatched upon the most perilous expeditions. Nicias is the fag--Demosthenes the big boy.”--Frere. The influence of oracles on the public mind at Athens during the Peloponnesian War is notorious matter of history. [11] The Senate was an elective Upper Chamber, in which all “bills” were brought in and discussed, before they were put to the vote in the General Assembly. [12] This Chorus has been imitated, in the true Aristophanic vein, by Mr Trevelyan, in his ‘Ladies in Parliament:’--