Τhe great rift between the totalitarian regime in Sparta and the democratic government in Athens, a rift that no bridge cloud span, led finally to the long peloponnesian war between these two cities and their allies, in 431 B.C. In 425 B.C., when Aristophanes presented his comedy titled Acharnians proverty, hardships and pestilence had decimated the Athenians, with no sign of peace in the horizon. Only the demagogues (dirty politicians) insisted on carrying on with the war, so they could secure public offices easily. In this irrational, fratricidal atmosphere Aristophanes' Acharnians was a lonely cry of sanity...