...
Show More
Amusing - must brush up on my Greek tragedy.
Ease Reading-Find Your Next Favorite Book
The Wasps / The Poet and the Women / The Frogs
...
Show More
Aristophanes; tr. by David Barrett, Wasps, The; the Poet and the Women; the Frogs
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,-0422
This edition
- Format
-
224 pages, Paperback
- Published
-
February 28, 1964 by Penguin Books
- ISBN
-
9780140441529
- ASIN
-
0140441522
- Language
-
English
About the author
...
Show More
Aristophanes (Greek: Αριστοφάνης; c. 446 – c. 386 BC) was an Ancient Greek comic playwright from Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. These provide the most valuable examples of a genre of comic drama known as Old Comedy and are used to define it, along with fragments from dozens of lost plays by Aristophanes and his contemporaries.
Also known as "The Father of Comedy" and "the Prince of Ancient Comedy", Aristophanes has been said to recreate the life of ancient Athens more convincingly than any other author. His powers of ridicule were feared and acknowledged by influential contemporaries; Plato singled out Aristophanes' play The Clouds as slander that contributed to the trial and subsequent condemning to death of Socrates, although other satirical playwrights had also caricatured the philosopher.
Aristophanes' second play, The Babylonians (now lost), was denounced by Cleon as a slander against the Athenian polis. It is possible that the case was argued in court, but details of the trial are not recorded and Aristophanes caricatured Cleon mercilessly in his subsequent plays, especially The Knights, the first of many plays that he directed himself. "In my opinion," he says through that play's Chorus, "the author-director of comedies has the hardest job of all."
Also known as "The Father of Comedy" and "the Prince of Ancient Comedy", Aristophanes has been said to recreate the life of ancient Athens more convincingly than any other author. His powers of ridicule were feared and acknowledged by influential contemporaries; Plato singled out Aristophanes' play The Clouds as slander that contributed to the trial and subsequent condemning to death of Socrates, although other satirical playwrights had also caricatured the philosopher.
Aristophanes' second play, The Babylonians (now lost), was denounced by Cleon as a slander against the Athenian polis. It is possible that the case was argued in court, but details of the trial are not recorded and Aristophanes caricatured Cleon mercilessly in his subsequent plays, especially The Knights, the first of many plays that he directed himself. "In my opinion," he says through that play's Chorus, "the author-director of comedies has the hardest job of all."
Readers also enjoyed
Community Reviews
Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
30(30%)
4 stars
37(37%)
3 stars
33(33%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
100 reviews All reviews
...
Show More
Good. Not as good as Euripides, but good.
...
Show More
THE FROGS ARE
...
Show More
Even if you're not interested in ancient plays and theatrical comedy (my interest is moderate, at best) reading Aristophanes give some interesting insights about Greek society around the 5th century BCE.
Otherwise the humor is hit and miss for me as a modern reader. Some of it, mostly vulgar and situational humor, is still funny while most jokes depending on historical context is lost on me. I even found myself laughing at the episode where Euripides is playing the role of Echo and infuriates the Archer by repeating his lines.
Otherwise the humor is hit and miss for me as a modern reader. Some of it, mostly vulgar and situational humor, is still funny while most jokes depending on historical context is lost on me. I even found myself laughing at the episode where Euripides is playing the role of Echo and infuriates the Archer by repeating his lines.
...
Show More
Besides the plays themselves being fun, I really enjoyed the introduction and the footnotes. They inspired me to go online and pick up some Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripedes! I realize that those are tragedians, but if you've read Frogs and all its literary criticism of the tragedies, you'll know why my interest in them was piqued.
...
Show More
This was my first time reading Aristophanes, so I'm yet to read those of the surviving plays not included in this edition. As such, at the moment I can't really comment on whether this particular edition is better than another by choice of texts. However, I think its worth mentioning that after this, I'm definitely going to be reading the rest of Aristophanes' work, entertaining as they were.
First things first, please drop the common misconception that classic texts- and especially antiquity- were all very serious, very sensible, very snobby. No, it's just not true. The human race has always loved- to our merit or fault- penis jokes, flatulence jokes, colourful invective. Aristophanes is no exception. In Wasps, Women at the Thesmophoria, and Frogs, we get all things silly and crude. If you think you're too grown-up for that sort of childish humour, I think you should grow-up out of your insecurities. Enjoy it! Penis jokes are funny, I promise...
If not, well, okay then. But, there is something I took away from this on the nature of comedy. Typical of Ancient Greek Drama and Comedy, mythology is incorporated within the stories (through references in Wasps and Women, and with a more direct involvement in Frogs). The effect of this on me was to create a sense of magic and escapism- perfect for comedy. The best modern example I could think of was Mighty Boosh: magic and reality are blended seamlessly together, scepticism is suspended, and the combination never feels jarring.
There may be, perhaps, some ethical differences, but I think it's important not to condemn the past with our modern morality so much. The gay jokes, for example. Women at the Thesmophoria is built on them. However, at least for me, they never felt hateful, more a playful nudge nudge wink wink he lets "himself be buggered" kind of thing. Actual quote, by the way. I also found myself quite fond of the character Agathon, the effeminate "passive" homosexual with a "slack passage... through submissive acts" who "snatch[es] away female sexual rights by poaching their nocturnal business," and, here's that quote again, "letting himself be buggered." Yeah, it's pretty shocking.
Most of all, Aristophanes' work is just an interesting little document on the culture and politics of Athens. The notes included in this edition were quite good in this regard. I love learning about ancient literature and mythology, and reading this was time well spent.
First things first, please drop the common misconception that classic texts- and especially antiquity- were all very serious, very sensible, very snobby. No, it's just not true. The human race has always loved- to our merit or fault- penis jokes, flatulence jokes, colourful invective. Aristophanes is no exception. In Wasps, Women at the Thesmophoria, and Frogs, we get all things silly and crude. If you think you're too grown-up for that sort of childish humour, I think you should grow-up out of your insecurities. Enjoy it! Penis jokes are funny, I promise...
If not, well, okay then. But, there is something I took away from this on the nature of comedy. Typical of Ancient Greek Drama and Comedy, mythology is incorporated within the stories (through references in Wasps and Women, and with a more direct involvement in Frogs). The effect of this on me was to create a sense of magic and escapism- perfect for comedy. The best modern example I could think of was Mighty Boosh: magic and reality are blended seamlessly together, scepticism is suspended, and the combination never feels jarring.
There may be, perhaps, some ethical differences, but I think it's important not to condemn the past with our modern morality so much. The gay jokes, for example. Women at the Thesmophoria is built on them. However, at least for me, they never felt hateful, more a playful nudge nudge wink wink he lets "himself be buggered" kind of thing. Actual quote, by the way. I also found myself quite fond of the character Agathon, the effeminate "passive" homosexual with a "slack passage... through submissive acts" who "snatch[es] away female sexual rights by poaching their nocturnal business," and, here's that quote again, "letting himself be buggered." Yeah, it's pretty shocking.
Most of all, Aristophanes' work is just an interesting little document on the culture and politics of Athens. The notes included in this edition were quite good in this regard. I love learning about ancient literature and mythology, and reading this was time well spent.
...
Show More
Good stuff. Still entertaining and pertinent today. Laughed out loud many times.
...
Show More
no I miss the frogs
Leave a Review