أكون من أكون ولكن ليس من أبدو.

“What the plague’s this?”
“O! Murder! O! These Odomantian thieves have sacked my garlic! Put down the garlic! Drop it!”
“You rapscallion, how dare you touch them when they’re garlic primed!”
“Bemiryslushified”
“If strong you are, why don’t you circumcise me?”

This is probably the funniest Greek play I’ve read in a veeeery long time.

I'm afraid that this was too wierd for me. Too many allusions to contemporary issues, scenes too bizzare and too frequent changes of setup.
I can't say I did not enjoyed it, but for the great part of the play I was just confused. I prefer more mature Aristophanes - Clouds and later plays.

One thing that shines out is the peak of civil rights which was practiced in Athens. An artist is using real names of people around him and is mocking them savagely and is spreading anti-war sentiments but he is still under the protection of law and is allowed to practice his freedom. The play in itself is quite interesting and comical. The objects of mockery have been selected quite meticulously.

Translated, introduced and annotated by Alan H. Sommerstein. This play is about a farmer, Dikaiopolis, who in the midst of war, failed peace initiatives and crushing embargoes, makes his own personal thirty-years' peace with Sparta. It's got the usual Aristophanes jabs at his contemporaries: warmongers and rival poets get ravaged by his satire, which has lost its sharpness after 2300 years and require footnotes to be comprehensible. Still, the main point of the play is well taken, and there's something of a poignancy behind the plea for sanity amidst all the war.

"Després de les publicacions bilingües de Lisístrata (2010) i de Les granotes (2014), Adesiara en presenta una altra d’Aristòfanes: Els acarnesos. Com Lisístrata, Els acarnesos és un al·legat a favor de la pau que passa per mostrar l’absurd de les guerres.

En aquest cas, Diceòpolis, un atenenc tip de la xerrameca bel·licista i les corrupteles dels polítics, es disposa a acabar amb la llarga guerra contra Esparta. Davant la poca voluntat d’enllestir l’assumpte i el constant desviament de fons públics cap a campanyes militars només dirigides a perpetuar-se, Diceòpolis emprèn el disbarat de pactar una treva només per a ell. Com és habitual, Aristòfanes es serveix de la situació real de la polis. La caricatura és constant. N’hi ha per a tothom. Un dels damnificats és Eurípides, que també rep a Les granotes. Quan surt a escena, Diceòpolis l’acollona; quan no ho fa, és Aristòfanes qui se’n fot servint-se de versos tràgics passats pel sedàs de la comèdia.

Tot plegat amb una traducció rigorosa i que no perd mai de vista que s’ocupa d’una comèdia i que, per tant, ha de fer riure. L’edició ho deixa tot a punt per a gaudir de la lectura d’un clàssic que ens ensenya que d’Atenes n’hem après millor la demagògia que la democràcia." Pau Compte

I love Aristophanes. I actually sat in the same spot and read this play giggling the while time. I have read a few of his other plays but this I r was a first for me. I'm writing and essay on politics and elites in Ancient Greece which prompted me to read this play and I actually loved it. Who thought homework could be fun? If your looking for a laugh and love the classics this is a must read!

Var en smule forvirret i starten, men da jeg var halvejs igennem og de begyndte at handle med missekatte blev komedien full on trilling, og jeg begyndte at nyde den

The version I read of Acharnians by Aristophanes was translated by BB Rogers, and it was a great translation. It’s got to be difficult to effectively translate Ancient Greek verse into modern English verse, but he did it incredibly well, maintaining a brilliant rhythm and meter and musicality to the whole thing, along with vibrant and evocative lyricism.

I’m curious to learn how certain characters were speaking in the original version, like the Megarian, whose lines are translated into a kind of old Irish or Scottish brogue, maybe old English. I wonder what the equivalent of this relationship to modern English was in Ancient Greece.

Anyway, Acharnians is an interesting and short comic play by Aristophanes that appears to be against war, or at least the Peloponnesian war, even offering a sympathetic view of the enemy. Events get somewhat carried away, while the whole show parades around in a pretty comical and sharp way. The play is a pleasure to read, and requires a significant amount of familiarity with certain ancient Greek customs and ideas and people that I didn’t always have. At times the events go overboard into absurdity, and these moments, paired with the moments of grand lyrical artistry, were the high points to me.

As a work of smartly and entertainingly written verse it is a great read, but the story, not to mention the appearance of Euripides as a character, and the impressive humor and creative abilities of Aristophanes, makes for an enjoyable and substantive reading.

(Paul Roche translation) Oh man... a hilarious play. Aristophanes is a savage.

I've read this in translation before but, unsurprisingly, one really gets a better sense of what's going on in this annotated Greek edition. I don't think one could ask for more information about any aspect of the play. Olson doesn't shy away from explaining Aristophanes' obscenity, which is very helpful considering past prudish translators and even lexicographers who would translate euphemistically or in other languages what in Aristophanes is quite plainly profane. The play itself isn't my favorite of Aristophanes but it is an exemplum for Old Comedy's intersection with Athenian politics.

An amazingly poetic, sensuous presentation of the blessings of peace!!!