A Stone in the Old Shoe: on Plutarch's Moralia, and Aristophanes' Wasps

The scarce generosity of most ancient philosophical criticism on comedy is unsurprising. Notions such as imitation and ethics do not go together in many regards with the comic genre in the thoughts of Plato and Aristotle. However, what about the criticism aimed at a comparison of the periods of Greek comedy, such as Plutarch's? In this case, it is necessary to consider certain issues such as the different political situation of production of the Old Comedy and Plutarch's Moralia, in which the author states that the Aristophanes' plays are not worthy of admiration because they are allegedly nauseating to their readership. What similarities between the periods of production of the Greek New Comedy and Plutarch's century could justify such judgment? A careful reading of the Aristophanes' comedies, especially the Wasps, is of great use to demonstrate that, as a political issue, Plutarch can be a "stone" in the old shoes of Greek comedy.