I enjoyed this lighthearted comedy. Aristophanes tells the story of Pisthetaerus, who convinces the birds to create a city in the sky—Cloudcuckooland—situated between humans and gods. The city disrupts the established order, forcing the gods to negotiate and ultimately cede power to the birds.

The play is an easy and entertaining read, with plenty of humorous moments. Some of the most amusing scenes involve characters visiting the new city, each bringing a unique perspective or problem. The negotiations with the gods are another highlight, showcasing Aristophanes' playful take on power and diplomacy.

One of the strengths of the play is its openness to interpretation. Is Cloudcuckooland an ideal city or a flawed one? Have the birds truly become gods, or is this just another human folly? These questions add depth to an otherwise straightforward comedy.

Overall, The Birds is an enjoyable work that combines humor with subtle commentary, making it a worthwhile read.

آقای آریستوفانیس عزیز ببخشید ولی من از این نمایشنامه تون لذت نبردم.

Aslında Aristophanes'in Türkiye İş Bankası tarafından yayımlanan kitabını satın almak istemiştim; ancak en merak ettiğim oyun olan "Bulutlar"ı kitapta göremediğim için Mitos Boyut'u tercih ettim.

Kuşlar, aslında bir ütopya. http://www.bued.boun.edu.tr/turik.asp... linkinden okuduğum kadarıyla Sicilya seferi öncesinde Tanrıların heykellerinin tahrip edilmiş ve bunun da uğursuzluk getirdiği inancı yerleşmiş. Buna sebebiyet verdikleri gerekçesiyle pek çok düşünür öldürülmüş. Oyun da Atina'daki bu tür problemlerden kurtulmak için kuşların ülkesine, bir ütopyaya, göç eden iki arkadaşı anlatıyor.

Oyunda dönemin Atinasını, iktidarı, yargıyı eleştiren pek çok kısım var. Örneğin, "...yine de ülkemizden ayrılıyoruz. Ülkemizi sevmediğimizden mi? Yoo! Kim böylesine mutlu ve güzel bir kenti sevmez? İstediğin kadar para harca, bol bol vergi ve ceza öde. Ağustos böcekleri dallarda bir iki ay ötüp dururlar. Atinalılar ise insanı ömür boyu öttürürler. Nasıl mı? Mahkemelerle, tahkikatlarla... İşte bu yüzden yola çıktık" (s.8). İşte bu tür sebeplerden ötürü daha iyi bir ülke bulma amacıyla Pistetairos ve Euelpides yola çıkıyor ve buluyorlar da. Bu iki arkadaşın yerleştikleri kuşlar ülkesi ile Aristophanes özlem duyduğu ülkeyi anlatıyor olsa gerek. "Aranızda mutlu bir yaşam sürmek isteyen varsa bizimle gelsin. Bizim aramızda ayıp diye günah diye bir şey yoktur. Kuşlar yaptığınız her şeyi hoş görürler" (s.31). Bunun haricinde bu yeni ülkede kuşlar Tanrılara daha az adak adıyorlar, onlar için daha az şey kurban ediyorlar ve bu durum da Tanrıları çok rahatsız ediyor, iktidarlarını zedeliyor. Bu ülkede Tanrıların egemenliğinden ziyade ülkenin kuşlarının hüküm sürmesi isteniyor.

Bulutlar, Sokrates'i ölüme götüren oyun olarak zihnimde yer etmiş bir oyun. Sokrates'in bu oyun sonrasında ölüm cezasına mahkûm edildiği söylenir.

Gelenekçi bir yapıya sahip Aristophanes, Sokrates'i sofistlerle bir tutar ve onun birtakım ahlâk kurallarını, gelenekleri yıktığından, inançları sarstığından bahisle Sokrates'i yerden yere vurur. Bu oyun da tam anlamıyla bunun üzerine kurulu. Mahkemede borçlarını ödemekten kurtulmak isteyen Strepsiades kendisini mahkemede savunmak için oğlunun Sokrates'ten ders almasını ister. Başta oğlu kabul etmeyince kendi ders almaya gider; fakat pek başarılı olmaz. Bunun üzerine yeniden oğlunun Sokrates'ten eğitim almasına uğraşır ve bu sefer başarılır olur; ancak aldığı oğlunun eğitimin ne kadar "kötü ve yıkıcı" bir etkiye sahip olduğunu sonradan anlar. Bunun üzerine de Sokrates'in evini ateşe verir.

Oyun boyunca Sokrates, sofistlerle bir tutulur. Haklı çıkmak için, karşı tarafı ikna etmek için her türlü şeyi dener. Bu uğurda ahlâk kurallarını da yok sayar Tanrıları da. Hatta yağmuru Zeus'un yağdırmadığını, kasırga ile birlikte bulutların yağdırdığını bile iddia eder!

Özellikle felsefe meraklılarının okuması gereken bir oyun olduğunu düşünüyorum.

“PISTETERO. A mí me gustan cosas parecidas.
ABUBILLA. ¿Cuáles?
PISTETERO. Cuando el padre de un bonito muchacho, al encontrarse conmigo, me hiciera estos reproches como si yo le hubiera ofendido: «Tiene gracia la cosa: te encuentras a mi hijo, Don Lindo, saliendo del gimnasio, recién bañado, y no le diste un beso, no le dijiste nada, no le abrazaste, no le cogiste los cojones, y eso tú, ¡un amigo de la familia!»
ABUBILLA. (Con lástima e ironía.) iPobre desgraciado, tienes afición a los infortunios! Pues bien: junto al mar Rojo hay una ciudad feliz como la que decís.”

پنح اثر اول باقیمانده از آریستوفانس هر کدام با فاصله یک سال به روی صحنه رفته اند و میشود تحول اندیشه و تفکر او را در این پنج سال ردیابی کرد. در دو نمایشنامه اول باقیمانده از او، آخارنیایی ها و شوالیه ها که طنز در حد هجویات و هزلیات مستقیم (در حد "هله کیدی غلام ناقابل" و "این غر غرچه جغد دمن است") و شوخی های فالیک متعدد و ست پیس های گسسته و بی ربط در متن وجود داشت. سبکی که از نمایشنامه ای نویسی در پایان دهه دوم زندگی خیلی دور از ذهن نیست، هر چند روشنگری و تفکر سیاسی او از همان آثار اول تحسین برانگیز بودند.
اما پرندگان فاصله زیادی (هفت سال) با آثار دیگر او دارد و تغییر سبک و طرز تفکر تا حد زیادی آشکار است. اگر آثار قبلی حملاتی سنگین و مستقیم علیه بنیادهای سیاسی یونان معاصر بودند، این اثر در حکم روایتی است اسوپی (یا کلیله و دمنه ای) و نمادین در مذمت اخلاقیات انسان معاصر که امید به آینده ای بهتر به همراه مبنای فکری قویتر را با خود همراه دارد. در پرندگان از هزل خبری نیست و شوخی های جنسی و فالیک در کمترین حد خود در اثر گنجانده اشده اند و هجو مستقیم اشخاص هم در مقایسه با آثار دیگر آریستوفانس به حد قابل توجهی کم شده است (هر چند کلیستنس و کلئونیموس بخت برگشته همیشه و در هر فرصت بی ربط و با ربطی، هدف شوخی های بی رحمانه آریستوفانس قرار گرفته اند. کلیستنس به دلیل امردی و کلئونیموس به دلیل بزدلی و چاقی)
پرندگان روایت دو شهروند آتنی است به اسم های فیستوتایروس و اولیپیدس که به دنبال سرزمینی بدون جنگ با پای پیاده از آتن به راه میفتند و به قلمروی ترئوس (شاه تراس که به دلیل تجاوز به همسر خواهرش به شکل شانه به سر در می آید و پادشاه پرنده ها می شود) می رسند. آنها به ترئوس پیشنهاد تشکیل کشوری را می دهند که بین زمین و آسمان بنا نهاده می شود. و درآمد آن از مالیات عوارض قربانی ها و افشانش تامین می شود. فیستوتایروس و اولیپیدس که خود به پرنده تبدیل شده اند و پادشاهان جدید این سرزمین هستند، پیشهاد برانداختن پادشاهی خدایان را به آنها میدهند و از روایات اساطیری کمک میگیرند تا اثبات کنند که پرندگان پیش از زئوس بوجود آمده اند.
مذهب جدید پرندگان، در مدت خیلی کوتاهی (کمتر از چند خط!) توجه مردم یونان خسته ازخدایان قدیم را به خود جلب می کند. شاعران، تاریخ نویسان، منجمان و پیش گویان به خدمت پادشاه پرندگان در میابند و تاریخ ادبیات اساطیری با تاریخ ادبیات پرندگان جایگزین می شود. انسان ها پرندگان را عبادت می کنند و اسم های پرنده ها را روی خود می گذارند و عادات زندگی پرندگان را تقلید می کنند.
در این میان، پرومتئوس، شورشی ابدی، به قلمروی پرندگان می آید و هراسناک از مجازاتی دیگر، راز دزدیدن تاج و تخت پادشاهی از زئوس را به پرندگان می گوید و پرندگان درفصل شاهکار پایانی و اندکی کفرآمیز، در مباحثه ای از حماقت خدایان استفاده می کنند و خدایان جدید تمامی عالم می شوند.
تم اصلی پرندگان یعنی ایجاد تفکری جدید، نابودی تفکر قدیمی و امید برای پیشرفت بر مبنای این تفکر جدید از محافظه کاری مثل آریستوفانس بعید به نظر می رسد. آریستوفانسی که در نمایشنامه "ابرها" از فلسفه سقراط و پیروان او (مثل دیاگوراس) انتقاد می کند (مسخره می کند) و تفکرات جدید را مبنای فروپایشی اخلاقیات جامعه می داند. طرز تفکری که در نمایشنامه ابرها بلاهت و ساده اندیشی آریستوفانس محافظه کار را نشان می دهد در پرندگان به باد انتقاد گرفته می شود و رسیدن به بینشی جدید پایه بنای ایجاد جامعه ای عاری از تفرقه و جنگ می شود.

Nephelococcygia, a metropolis in air,
Zeus' cloudy nightmare,
Unlikely a bedroom scare
From a sparrow’s wild rare.

A respite between heaven and earth,
“An avian heaven”, says Pisthetaerus,
Flirting with the nightingale’s mirth
Hoopoe consents ; what a fucking putz!

Sacred chants float over the lustral waters,
The birds join the jubilant choir,
The peacock dancing in a tutu simply backfires,
It’s not an ass-whooping Le Ballet Noir!

The pelican, the spoon-bill, the horned-owl, the teal, the stormy petrel and the titmouse,
Solemnized the laws of the land,
Harboring the Olympians grouse,
I rather be chained and canned.

Messiah to Bitch Dependency,
“Birds over bitches!” proclaims a pimp called Slickback,
Pleading for wings is a bitch tendency,
Cloud-cuckoo town- a two-cent hustler.

Rainbows descent on womanly divinity,
“That’s a bitch!” , yelps Slickback,
Iris, messenger of Gods, heart of Zeus’ affinity,
“That bitch’s gonna fuck y’all".

Perching on twigs, the birds laud the forgotten heroes,
A choral interlude, a cry for pigeons,
Howl the pigeons preening their Afros,
“You came to the wrong neighborhood, motherfucking wigeons!”

A cry of an amateur,
Verses may not rationally click
Least an award clincher,
I care a fuck ; I just blasted a stick!

A very entertaining comedy on how to build a kingdom and become a God. The people wanted to leave society and be among nature and came across the free birds and decided to be among them. They quickly became noticed and the greek gods also noticed and accepted them as leaders of the birds and were then gods.

I love the absurdist, fantastic elements of this political and social satire. It combines elements of fantasy in truly unique ways, and though it does lag in certain places because it feels like Aristophanes tried to get the whole kitchen sink in, it still works.

Nothing beats Prometheus arriving at cloud-cuckoo-land hidden first underneath a blanket and thereafter under an umbrella because he is God-enemy number one and can't be seen by Zeus or his henchmen. "There isn't a god following me, is there?" he asks, and I haven't been able to stop laughing.

I read the translation by David Barrett.

The play is rather silly, but the story behind the play is a telling expose of the end of the golden era of Athens focusing on the fascinating saga of Alcibiades . . . Athens fleet admiral; Sparta general; then back to Athens as hoplite general before his assassination while into early retirement. 15 years into the 27-year war with Sparta, a society gone mad with suspicion of fellow citizens, rampant litigation on dubious grounds (Alcibiades is summoned back to Athens while leading the Athenian fleet of tens-of-thousands of hoplites against Sicily, and Socrates is executed following a guilty verdict by a jury of 250 for being 'odd.') Sicily becomes a disaster, and Athens loses the Peloponnesian War to Sparta, never to rise to greatness again.

This comedy ridicules the disastrous Greek expedition to Sicily in 413 BC. More generally, The Birds is a rollicking commentary on man's eternal dissatisfaction with his lot; his habit of ignoring the divinities which shape his ends; is crowded, evil-breading cities; and his tendency to disturb the equilibrium of the universe, Pisthetaerus, with his irresistible rhetoric, is a forebear of the men who sell salvation or the world's goods with equal glibness and ease.

The important thing to note about this review is that I'm reading the version of the Birds that's subtitled "A Modern Translation by William Arrowsmith." If you read a translation by someone else it's likely you'll have a different experience - but then, a lot of your enjoyment of Aristophanes will depend on the translator's own sense of humor.

This is a text where it's critical to read the notes - not just for explanations but to get an idea of what Aristophanes is trying to make a joke about, but also to enjoy Arrowsmith. The man writes some delightful notes.

You can read the plot on wikipedia, but the short version is that two Athenians go to the birds and convince them to set up a kingdom so that the Athenians don't have to go back to Athens, where there are too many taxes and fees, and other annoyances. Here one of the characters tells the beginning of why they left, p. 19. I've added the notes from the back of the book (for this quote, p 135-136) - this is a good example of the translator giving you background and also letting you know when he's substituted words:

Euelpides:
...Think of it man:
here we are dying to go tell it to the Birds,*
and then, by god, we can't even find the way.

To the Audience.
Yes, dear people, we confess we're completely mad.
But it's not just like Sakas'* madness. Not a bit.
For he, poor dumb foreigner, wants in, while we,
born and bread Athenians both, true blue,
true citizens, not afraid of any man,
want out.
Yes, we've spread our little feet
and taken off. Not that we hate Athens -
heavens, no. And not that dear old Athens
isn't grand, that blessed land where men are free -
to pay their taxes.*

Relevant text from the Notes section:

Sakas: [via note on text p. 18] "From the frequent allusions in the play to men who, technically ineligible, had somehow managed to get themselves enrolled as Athenian citizens, it's tempting to believe that proposals to revise the citizenship lists were in the air or had recently been carried out. The climax of these allusions comes in the final scene of the play, in which Posthetairos attempts to prove that Herakles is technically a bastard (and hence can not inherit Zeus' estate) since his mother was an ordinary mortal, i.e., of foreign stock.

"to pay their taxes": A slight modernization of the Greek which says: "to pay fines."

Euelpides goes on to give specifics about what made them leave Athens: "legal locusts" - by which he means lawyers. Here's the section in the Notes on that reference, p. 136:

"because of legal locusts": Aristophanes favorite complaint against Athens, and one which the entire Wasps is devoted. But although Aristophanes here develops Athens' love of litigation as the major source of dissatisfaction, elsewhere throughout the play other grievances emerge: the restless and mischievous Athenian character (called [Greek word I can't type!]); the plague of informers; the victimization of the Allies; the ambition for power, an ambition which knows no limits and whose only goal is World Mastery ([another word in Greek]).

Another point I'll toss in here (for lack of a good transition elsewhere) is that the word/concept Cloudcuckooland (that has been tossed about in pop culture in various places) comes from this play. It's the name of the new kingdom/city that one of our Athenians (Pisthetairos) convinces the birds to build in the clouds.

Many times Arrowsmith will explain what specific Greek he translated, how he modernized it into a joke we'd understand, and what the original was.

[I was going to add an example quote here, but ran out of time on my trip and had to leave the book with my father - because he enjoys reading Aristophanes every now and then - and now don't have it to quote. So you'll just have to believe me when I say that Arrowsmith does this more than once.]

I suggest that you be sure to read the Introduction after you've read the play - not because it spoils anything but because it explains a lot, and specifically gives reasons for how Arrowsmith has chosen to translate the play.

p 13, Introduction:

...For fidelity's sake, this is also a poetic version. A prose Aristophanes is to my mind as much a monstrosity as a limerick in prose paraphrase. And for much the same reasons. If Aristophanes is visibly obscene, farcical, and colloquial, he is also lyrical, elegant, fantastic, and witty. And a translation which, by flattening incongruities and tensions, reduces one dimension necessarily reduces the other. Bowdlerize Aristophanes and you sublimate him into something less vital and whole; prose him and you cripple his wit, dilute his obscenity and slapstick, and weaken his classical sense of the wholeness of human life.

p 71-72, for those who haven't read Aristophanes, an example of his rude/obscene/however-you-categorize-it moments (not at first, I left in the comedy build up to it):

Chorus:
Friends, you haven't really lived till you've tried a set of FEATHERS!
Think, spectators.
Imagine yourself with a pair of wings!
The sheer joy of it! Not having to sit those tragedies out!
No getting bored. You merely flap your little wings and fly off home.
You have a snack, then make it back to catch the COMIC play.
Or again, suppose your're overtaken by a sudden need to crap.
Do you do it in your pants?
Not a bit.
You just zoom off,
fart and shit to your heart's content and whizz right back.
Or perhaps you're having an affair - I won't name any names.
You spot the lady's husband attending some meeting or other.
Up you soar, flap your wings, through the window and into bed!
You make it a quickie, of course, then flutter back to your seat.
So what do you say?
Aren't wings the most wonderful things?

This is actually pretty mild stuff (for our day and age, not the Victorians), there's plenty of more racy, phalus-oriented material elsewhere. However this speech is being spoken by a chorus of birds (actors dressed humorously as birds, that is), and a good example of the weirdness/humor in this play.

من خصومت شخصيم با آريستوفان رفع نشده اما علت اينكه بسى لذت از اين كتاب بردم اينكه به شدت ياد مدينه فاضله عطار و منطق الطير نماد شخصيتى پرندگان و بالخصوص هدهد افتادم!!