Customer Reviews

The Complete Plays of Aristophanes

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I can accept some stilted language; after all, some of these translations are about a century old. I can accept the lack of notes. But I can not accept translations of Aristophanes that cut some of his funniest scenes!

For instance, in the translation of Thesmophoriazusae, the unmasking of Mnesilochus (line 600 and after) is gutted. Lines 610-617 are gone (Mnesilochus' urination excuse), but more importantly, the whole climax of the scene -- the hilarious physical comedy where he tries to maintain his female disguise (lines 643-649) -- is nowhere to be seen.

It's hard to imagine that an editor would allow 19th century prudery to ruin a 20th century edition of Aristophanes, but there you are.

Despite the cheap price, this book is no bargain. Spring for the more expensive (if a bit less literal) Penguin versions.

The plays of Aristophanes comic masterpieces, but not in these old-fashioned, stilted translations. I have read other translations of some of these plays. When properly translated, they are witty in much of their wordplay, frequently ribald and often funny. The language of the present translations, on the other hand, is stiff, obscure and scarcely readable. The publisher has done us a great service by compiling all of the Aristophanes plays into a single volume, but should reissue the collection in a better, more modern translation, one which does justice to the original.

do NOT purchase this translation. it makes one of the funniest writers of all time boring. this translation is as bad as the previous reviewers have indicated. the best, and most hilarious, translation that i've seen is a 1938 version that , i think, eugene o'neill worked on as an editor or something. however, aristophanes should definitely be checked out by afficionados of ancient greek literature as well as anyone interested in comic writing that'll make you laugh out loud. he's one of the titans of world literature.

You may look at the Bantam Classics edition of Aristophanes and think "Wow, what a deal! All eleven extant plays by Aristophanes for under $6!" I thought the same thing; but trust me, this edition is not worth your time. These translations are stilted, archaic and endlessly frustrating - obscuring not only the timeless humor of the plays, but occasionally the basic elements of the plot as well. I recommend instead paying the extra money for the livelier, bawdier, more readable Penguin editions. Don't make the same mistake I did.

I agree with the previous review on "Baudlerizing". Not only is the translation edited for sexual content but translating greek currencies (likely drachmae) into dollars, translating references to women's robes into "silk" -- probably unknown in ancient Greece, etc., makes this book less useful for people like myself who cannot read the ancient Greek, but are researching the historical period. The book retains much of Aristophanes humor and is, fairly much, kid-safe for those parents who are concerned about a child precocious enough to read Aristophanes being corrupted by an accurate translation.

Several years ago, during my first year of college, I purchased and read one of Aristophanes' better known plays, The Clouds. I thoroughly enjoyed the translation, and I made a mental note to read more Aristophanes as time provided. Many years passed between that pleasant reading and my purchase of this book, The Complete Plays of Aristophanes.

Any book that purports to include the "Complete" works of an ancient author automatically draws my attention. And so, when I chanced upon this title at Borders and discovered it to have a reasonable price ($5.95 + tax for 11 plays, about .58 cents a play), I could see little reason not to buy this work.

Standing at its price, The Complete Plays of Aristophanes is a great deal. The plays are complete and each includes an introductory page. However, in terms of readability and enjoyment, the book suffers in several regards. Firstly, some of the translations are nearly unreadable, especially when the translations are in antiquated English slang. This is not to say all the translations are unreadable. The work includes the translations of four men: B.B. Rogers, Moses Hadas, R.H. Webb, and Jack Lindsay. I found that one play would have a dreadful translation (by the standards of today), only for the next play, translated by the same man, to have a much clearer translation. I wonder if the problem lies less with the translator than with the difficulties of translating into contemporary English, as well as the gap between the English language spectrum of the translators and the English known and used today.

Besides the translations, there is the issue of the play introductions. Some of the play introductions are helpful in providing the historical background of the time in which Aristophanes wrote the play. The book is much better with the introductions than without. Yet, several of the comments made in the introductions strike one as dilettante. For example, the writer directly states what is funny or grave in the play. As to the freedom of the text from typographical errors: the work overall presents itself as a polished publication. On p. 205 the title at the top of the page should read "Wasps" but instead reads "Play Title", as if the publisher forgot the change this for final publication. Other than that, however, I found few actual errors.

My overall impression: this book is a better investment than a fast food meal at the same price, although if you want to receive the most out of Aristophanes, there are better translations and scholarly coverage on the market.

When a foreigner asked Plato about the ways of Athens, he sent him the works of Aristophanes. There is nothing proper about these plays, they are vibrant and ribald. The Athenians were ahead of their time with the idea of free speech, and in Aristophanes they had a comic genius to make use of it. Birds is my favorite, the story of a utopia created in the sky by two dissatisfied Athenians. It's a protest against war and has some great ideas, for instance, their intercepting human sacrifices to the gods until Olympus sends an envoy to negotiate with them. In Lysistrata, the women of Athens refuse to have sex with their husbands until they end their war. Clouds satirizes the Sophists (although, unfairly, using Socrates as his victim). These are comic masterpieces.