The Acharnians or
Acharnians (
Ancient Greek:
Akharneîs;
Attic: ) is the third play — and the earliest of the eleven surviving plays — by the Athenian playwright
Aristophanes. It was produced in
425 BCE on behalf of the young dramatist by an associate, Callistratus, and it won first place at the
Lenaia/LENEA festival. The play is notable for its absurd humour, its imaginative appeal for an end to the
Peloponnesian War and for the author's spirited response to condemnations of his previous play,
The Babylonians, by politicians such as
Cleon, who had reviled it as a slander against the Athenian
polis. In
The Acharnians, Aristophanes reveals his resolve not to yield to attempts at political intimidation. Along with the other surviving plays of Aristophanes,
The Acharnians is one of the few - and oldest - surviving examples of a highly satirical genre of drama known as
Old Comedy.