I have always loved these plays and this is a the second volume of the known plays extant. There are aspects here that reach out across the centuries and touch us because in many ways we are not so different in fact we are very much the same. The ancient Greeks being unencumbered by centuries of Christian hypocrisy and dislike of human sexuality expressed themselves very differently but that aside altogether very much like us. Lysistrata could be slightly reworked and be a comment on our own time and the fundamental critique of empire implicit in Aristophanes writing is a valid subtext to our own time period and our existence in a never ending state of war against one or another of the "enemy".
These are satire of a very fundamental nature and directed at the society and social structures of the time. They are not fluff but they are humorous and fortunate for Aristophanes he could freely express himself in this fashion in the Athens of his day. Had he lived a little later in the world of Alexander or the Romans he likely would have found himself exiled or murdered for what he wrote as those states were not so liberal when it came to freedom of speech and critique of the governing class. Of course the one great irony of his thesis is his critique of democracy which he felt was the reason for the imperialism of the Athenian state and his yearning for the earlier, more conservative and much idealized monarchy he idolized. This is often the issue with those of whatever political ilk who recall however spottily the idolized and sanitized versions of by-gone eras as a "golden age" and wish for it to return.
That aside Aristophanes was a delightful writer and his critiques of the society in which he lived are witty and humorous and well worth reading both in terms of where we originate as well as what is occurring around us. Human nature has not changed really in the centuries and that is a point well worth considering.
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