Sycophant

Satire

Several of Aristophanes' comedies feature sycophants as major characters. In The Acharnians, a Megarian attempting to sell his daughters is confronted by a sycophant who accuses him of illegally attempting to sell foreign goods; and a Boeotian purchases a sycophant as a typical Athenian product that he cannot obtain at home. A sycophant appears as a character in The Birds. In Plutus, the character, Sycophant, defends his role as a necessity in supporting the laws and preventing wrongdoing.