Rather that put my own lame comments here, I will quote a way better commentary by Ian C. Johnston:

«By the end of the play, of course, all this original intention has been subverted. Pisthetairos and Euelpides have become rulers of the birds and are, it seems, about to supplant the gods themselves. In the process they have persuaded the birds to surrender their freedom in the name of increasing their power and riches, and so what started out as a quest for a peacefully independent life for two Athenians ends up with an extension of their empire, a triumph which is to be celebrated by eating a couple of birds, the very creatures to whom they came at the start for advice about how to live.

On a fairly basic level the satiric intention here is clear enough: Aristophanes wants to hold up to ridicule the Athenian habit of aggressive interference, their innate imperialistic tendencies which make it impossible for them to live life without seeking domination.»

I've read this as a play concerning the innate human craving for something better, a craving which can never be fully satiated, which could be taken as a satire for the Athenian desire for conquering (which always leads to war and destruction) and for always inventing new forms of political expression (which often results in people feeling lost and overwhelmed). I've enjoyed the talk about Eros, the lust that is inherently present in all of the characters. Just as an example, after Peisthetaerus and his friend establish Cloud-cuckoo-land, a patricide appears and states the following: "I’m in love with the laws of the Birds. I’m batty about the birds and I’m all in a flutter of desire to live with you, and I want your nomoi!”. Similarly, Kinesias says: “Because of Eros I flutter heavenwards of light wings”. And the link between politics and eroticism/passion is brought to its paroxysm in the end of the play when Peisthetaerus marries Basileia and establishes himself as a tyrant deity who is not necessarily creating a utopia since the wedding feast includes some roasted jailbirds. However, in comparison to other plays such as Lysistrata or the Assembly of Women, I found this play less comical and less enjoyable overall. This might be a masterpiece of political satire, but for me it proved a little too allegorical and difficult to follow than other plays.

If you get a good translation, The Funniest book in the world!

Kuşlar, Bulutlar’a göre daha güzel.

“ En akıllılar bilgilerini düşmanlarından alırlar. Düşmanı tanırsanız güvendesiniz demektir. Bir dost nasıl korunacağınızı anlatmaz ama bir düşman yüzünden bilgi edinmek zorunda kalırsınız. Kentler yüksek duvarlar örmesini, büyük gemiler yapmasını dostlarından değil düşmanlarından öğrenirler. Evinizi, malınızı, çocuklarınızı nasıl koruyacağınızı sizlere öğreten de düşmanlarımızdır.” Kuşlar

“ Tabii ki insanın düşüncesi kanatlarıdır. Sözler insanı gökyüzüne çıkarır. Ben de akıllıca laflar söyleyerek kafana kanat takıyorum. Böylece kendine daha temiz bir iş bulursun.” Kuşlar

bukowski nel 300 ac

A bird city is built between men and the gods, and thereby everyone, man and god alike are humbled.

Extremely funny. Bizarre how humor translates so well hundreds and hundreds of years later. The Hackett actors version was incredibly well laid out for the actor- providing most of the foundational comedy work. The writing was, not as expected, riddled with puns, dead pan humor, insult humor, sarcasm... Very modern for such an old piece of writing. Very excited to have read my first play by Aristophanes and my first Classical Greek comedy!

Qué mal me cae este tío

I read the student version, which was "shortened" to 542 pages and took me two months to finish! It was worth it. Most of her metrical analysis flew right over my head, but that's my problem, not Dunbar's. Undisputed classic of a commentary. Besides the usual stuff one expects from a commentary, this one stands out with intelligible explanations of variant readings and criteria for her choices, and the occasionally sharp observations of Aristophanic choice of words and particles for effect. Highly enjoyable.

A fun, silly premise that I love to imagine the theatron popping off so hard at like amateur night at the Apollo.

Naturally, some whimsy and fun gets lost reading it rather than seeing it, doubly so when your reading experience is flipping to the footnotes to have a joke about a specific Ancient Greek poet explained. But the premise and specifically the section when the city gets founded and a bunch of gods and dudes show up one after another to see what the deal is is funny without needing any footnotes.

Favorite bit of course is the guy named PARRICIDE who immediately arrives at the bird kingdom once it's founded and is like "I really like what you guys got goin on here. I'd love to kick it here you guys have great laws." And they're like "which laws?" And he's like "Oh just that among birds it's cool to peck or strangle your dad." And they're like "Yeah for sure man, a baby chick fighting its dad, that's brave" and he's like "for sure yeah I want to strangle my dad and inherit his wealth." And they're like "woah dude chill actually". And he's like "ah yeah you're probs right".

The play is pretty silly. A farcical play advocating that the birds are higher than the gods and should rule all from their kingdom of the air (which is to be encircled "with a brick-builded wall, like Babylon's, solid and high").

I did however very much appreciate the work of the translator, who managed to maintain and good strong rhythm and rhyme -- Benjamin Bickley Rogers.

A few interesting tidbits. There are references to personalities involved in the Peloponnesian War.

He mentions Aesop's fable of the fox and the eagle. How old are those???

He mentions off-handedly a scientific tidbit, which apparently was known at the time. He says:

"Straight to the very center; just as from
A star, though circular, straight rays flash out
In all directions."

Interesting that they knew that then. Also interesting that he apparently accepts that, as in The Clouds he viciously mocks Socrates' scientific inquiries.

The also mentions that the Medes (cf. the Peloponnesian War again) had camels.

My first experience with classical Greek comedy. A colorful lesson in many elements of theater, namely the use of chorus in Aristophanes' parabasis & how to satirize your society to the extent of crushing its religious idols.. Well there was definitely sacrilege in it and it sounds thought provocative even today. Aristophanes was really post modern.. One has to contemplate how the chorus was addressing the judges of the show.. A great experience it was.