Satirists, Political

Origins and Development

The most well-known example of early political satire was the Dionysian theater rituals in classical Greek democracy. During these festivals, performers lampooned political leaders and elaborate skits were performed in the public arenas as a form of acceptable open criticism. As Greek society transitioned to a written culture, these performances were recorded and became lasting records of political satire. Most famous among Greek theatrical satirists was Aristophanes whose plays are still performed and retain much of their original satire of power. Several pre-Socratic philosophers also engaged in written political satire. So powerful were political satire and early theater that Plato harshly criticizes them in his famous political work The Republic. Plato is cautious of “poets” and other writers because they have an ability to destabilize a democratic regime by appealing to the base entertainment desire of the audience.

In western cultures satire and political satire were preserved during the Middle Ages by traveling minstrels and bards who obliquely offered social criticisms through lyrics to popular songs performed in informal settings. These coded satires were often of reigning monarchs and the feudal system itself. Many of these folklore songs were eventually collected and written as nursery rhymes and fairy tales, such as “Three Blind Mice” and “Jack and Jill.” Simple satires of religious institutions were coded into performances of mystery plays and church dramas. Erasmus's In Praise of Folly satirized both the institution of the church and self-delusion on the part of the readers. Political satire regained popularity with the beginning of the Enlightenment era and greater literacy rates in European countries. Political upheavals around the redistribution of wealth and the rise of a mercantile middle class were the subjects of this satire.

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