Aristophanes was a playwright of ancient Athens, whose surviving works represent the sole extant examples of the "Old Comedy" style. His plays are celebrated for their sharp satire, tackling the political and social issues of 5th-century-BC Athens with wit and insight. He offered commentary on matters ranging from the Peloponnesian War and the structure of the city-state to the role of women in public life and the influence of philosophers on public opinion. These enduring comedies have been translated into numerous languages and continue to be performed and adapted, testament to their lasting impact on theater.
Bryn Mawr Commentaries provide clear, concise, accurate, and consistent support for students making the transition from introductory and intermediate texts to the direct experience of ancient Greek and Latin literature. They assume that the student will know the basics of grammar and vocabulary and then provide the specific grammatical and lexical notes that a student requires to begin the task of interpretation.
Set in ancient Athens, the play follows two men, Pisthetaerus and Euelpides, who escape the city to create a utopia among the birds. As they navigate the kingdom of the birds, they employ humor to critique Athenian politics, religion, and philosophy. The work is characterized by its comedic elements and musical numbers, ensuring its lasting popularity in theater. This edition includes an English translation by William James Hickie and features notes by John William Donaldson, highlighting its cultural significance and historical context.
A “zany [and] inventive†(Emily Wilson) translation that for the first time captures both the antic outrageousness and lyrical brilliance of antiquity’s greatest comedies.
Birds. Frogs. Women in Power. The Woman from Samos. Cyclops. Alkestis
Six wide ranging classic plays with introduction by the editorThe comedies of the Athenian theatre not only lie at the root of Western drama, they also offer a unique insight into everyday life in ancient Greece. This selection of six wide ranging plays includes the comic fantasies of Aristophanes, which combine the ridiculous with serious satirical comment (Birds, Frogs, Women in Power); Menander's The Woman from Samos, a recognisable forebear of today's situation comedy; Euripides ribald satyr play, Cyclops, the only surviving example of the genre, and his Alkestis, a complex romance which gave a new face to comedy.The volume is edited and introduced by J. Michael Walton, Professor of Drama at the University of Hull and founder/director of the Performance Translation Centre there.
Set against the backdrop of the Peloponnesian War, the narrative follows Dikaiopolis, an old peasant farmer disillusioned by the conflict and the self-interest of Athenian politicians. Seeking peace, he takes matters into his own hands, negotiating a personal truce that highlights the absurdities of war and the folly of political leaders. Through humor and satire, Aristophanes critiques societal norms and the impact of war on everyday life, making a poignant statement about the human desire for harmony amidst chaos.
Xanthias I am teaching myself how to rest; I have been awake and on watch the whole night.Sosias So you want to earn trouble for your ribs, eh? Don't you know what sort of animal we are guarding here?Xanthias Aye indeed! but I want to put my cares to sleep for a while.[He falls asleep again.]
The book is a facsimile reprint of a rare antiquarian work, preserving its historical significance despite potential imperfections like marks and flawed pages. It aims to protect and promote important literary works by offering them in high-quality, affordable modern editions that remain true to the original.
The translator presents political and social aspects of Aristophanic comedy, the conventions of Greek theater, and the challenges of translating ancient Greek into modern English. He also draws upon his own experience of directing the plays in a replica of the original theatre in order to offer insight into the major issues each play raises in performance.
This new edition of Aristophanes is intended to replace the previous Oxford Classical Text published in 1900-1. Since that date it has been possible to construct a far better picture of the transmission of the text from antiquity to the age of printing and to obtain reliable reports of other significant manuscripts. While some of the new information has been taken into account for recent commentaries on individual plays, there is no easily available complete edition. Though the text of the plays is better preserved than that of Greek tragedy, the editor has thought it desirable to record or adopt a fair number of conjectures, some of them little known or unjustly disregarded; in a few passages he has ventured to offer suggestions of his own.
It is now considered one of Aristophanes' most brilliant parodies of Athenian society, with a particular focus on the subversive role of women in a male-dominated society, the vanity of contemporary poets, such as the tragic playwrights Euripides and Agathon, and the shameless, enterprising vulgarity of an ordinary Athenian, as represented in this play by the protagonist, Mnesilochus.