Persuadir, legislar y juzgar en Aves: Aristófanes y los alcances jurídico-políticos del uso de hipótesis eventuales

Abstract

Through the analysis of conditional sentences introduced by ἐάν in Birds' selected passages, we can discover how these hypothetical clauses imply a textually appropriate means to present Aristophanes' interests in political persuasion. The relationship established between protasis and apodosis within these syntactic constructions points to a present-future interaction that wavers between what is possible and impossible. Structural similarities to the way in which Greek laws were formulated are noticed, and it can be all interpreted then as a blend of juridical consequences and deceitful promises that lies underneath the whole play's discourse.