The Knights

In many respects 'The Knights' may be reckoned the great Comedian's masterpiece, the direct personal attack on the then all-powerful Cleon, with its scathing satire and tremendous invective, being one of the most vigorous and startling things in literature. Already in 'The Acharnians' he had threatened to «cut up Cleon the Tanner into shoe-leather for the Knights,» and he now proceeds to carry his menace into execution, «concentrating the whole force of his wit in the most unscrupulous and merciless fashion against his personal enemy.»—From the introduction to ‘The Knights’ of Aristophanes.