Eminently enjoyable despite the really awful translation that seems to try to go for colloquial equivalents and fails terribly. The notes on each text were also fairly flat and uninformative.

The Frogs is the real triumph of the collection though I particularly enjoyed The Wasps in its exploration of duty vs freedom.

the poet and the women>>>>

The first of the three plays, I could definitely deal without, but the other two were great to read. The best was The Frogs, and quite liked the playfulness, the scenes down in Hades and the pointed comments about the then current state of affairs in Athens. I would like to have read them in the original Greek, as I find translations sometimes miss the mark. This translator tried to convey the meaning of the plays with modern language, but unfortunately, is now dated with too much of the Bertie and Wooster "hey old chaps" kind of language.

Incredible.
2000 years later and these comedies are still sharp, relevant and funny!
Thanks to a great job by translater David Barret you really get the feel of the great theater in Athens.
The short introduction and introductions to each play get you up-to-speed without being wearisome and get you straight into the action.
One of the strangest things is how GRAPHIC (kind of like slapstick) this style of comedy is and you're enjoying it when reading.

I'm adding my specific reviews for the first 2 plays which I wrote as I read them.
The third review would be a waste so I'll just say that its a bit less funny and a bit more clever.
So you get 3 kinds of comedies here: Political, Graphic and Sophisticated (lyrical?)
Highly recomended to all who like history.

The Poet and the Women 5*
This was tremendously graphic, with actors flying from the walls, Bacchic dancing and a very intrusive interrogation to find out a man masquerading as a woman ("he put it between his legs!")
And yet - all comes vividly alive, the whole singing-dancing-zingy show thanks to great translation and the brilliance of the author.
Its like going through a time-machine and really taking part!

5* - its amazing how RELEVANT and funny this is, and only ink on paper - you can't actually see the action on the stage and yet it comes alive in your head.
The translator and the author's combining rhymes, meaning and funny zingers is incredible - especially when you realize that its all in perfect meter and rhythm (you can actually "sing along")