Cleonymus of Athens

Cleonymus (Ancient Greek: Κλεωνύμος) was a political ally of Cleon and an Athenian general. Cleonymus was notorious for two things, his enormous size and gluttony, and most infamously, he dropped his shield and fled during the Athenian retreat at the Battle of Delium. He was branded a coward. This act is often used to comedic effect by Aristophanes in 6 different plays, The Acharnians, The Knights, The Clouds, The Wasps, Peace, and The Birds.

References

• Martin Ostwald. From Popular Sovereignty to the Sovereignty of Law: Law, Society and Politics in Fifth-Century Athens. University of California Press, 1990. ISBN 978-0-520-06798-1; pp. 205–206; p. 231
• Aristophanes, The Birds, 289-290. (Translated by Peter Meineck). Aristophanes 1 : Clouds, Wasps, Birds. Hackett Publishing Company, 1998. ISBN 978-0-87220-360-0