Aristophanes, the great Greek Comedian, wrote perhaps forty comedies of which only the eleven presented here have survived. Renowned in his own time as a master of wit and satire, Aristophanes' comedies are almost modern in their irreverent look at, what was then, contemporary society. No subject was too elevated for Aristophanes' critical insight and sharp barbs. He poked fun at pomposity and posturing wherever he found it. These eleven comedies are a treasury of bawdy humor that still irks straight-laced moralists.
Included in this volume are all eleven of Aristophanes existing plays:
The Knights: 424 B.C. Attacks the political leader Cleon and his war policy.
The Acharnians: 426 B.C. Satirizes the war and makes fun of Euripides.
Peace: 422 B.C. The same theme which enlarges on the blessings of Peace
Lysistrata: 411 B.C. A burlesque conspiracy by the women to force a peace.
The Clouds: 423 B.C. Satirizes Socrates, the Sophists and the New Education.
The Wasps: 422 B.C. Makes fun of the Athenian passion for litigation.
The Birds: 414 B.C. Describes a new and improved city, Cloud-cuckoo-town.
The Frogs: 405 B.C. A satire on Euripides and the New Tragedy.
The Thesmophoriazusae: 412 B.C. Another literary satire of Euripides.
The Ecclesiazusae: 392 B.C. Pokes fun at ideal Utopias, like Plato's Republic.
Plutus: 408 and 388 B.C. A whimsical allegory more than a regular comedy.
These plays formed the foundation of the art form of the satire; using humor to make a political or philosophical point at the expense of those persons and institutions too powerful to be directly attacked. They stand as an amusing monument to the ingenuity and wit of the Ancient Greeks.
