Book Description
This volume features four celebrated masterpieces: Lysistrata, The Frogs, The Assembly-Women, and Plutus (Wealth), all in new translations by the distinguished poet and translator Paul Roche.
Customer Reviews:
Inexpensive and very okay.......2006-09-27
Roche's Signet Classic "Four Plays by Aristophanes" provides good contemporary translations of Lysistrata, The Frogs, A Parliament of Women, and Plutus. On the negative side, the renderings are not terrifically inspired. The paper is too pulpy for a "classic," but that's a drawback of most (though not all) inexpensive classics nowadays. My printing of Roche, however, is not thick or blotchy, though I've noticed the Signet Classics sometimes tend in that direction.
Gone are the days, evidently, when the pages of a Signet Classic always looked crisp and stayed bright for decades. I've got some from the '60s that still look good.
Roche's introduction and notes to these four plays are brief but solid.
Great Ancient Greek Political Parodies.......2005-01-06
I should first point out that I read a different edition of this book, and the one that I had had only two plays - The Birds and The Frogs. I will review only these two. Aristophanes has a "no holds barred" type of approach to controversial political decisions and actions. The Birds is a comedy that ridicules the disastrous Greek expedition to Sicily in 413 B.C. Arisotophanes is a wonderful writer and he uses similes and parables throughout his writing. Besides being comedic, The Birds pays tribute to man's eternal desire to achieve the freedom and beauty associated with birds.
The Frogs is a parody on the stupidy and culpability of persons afflicted with their own preoccupation with themselves. We see these types of "puffed up" personalities all around even in this day and age. So like the frogs we hear in our ponds and marshes chirping the same old songs. This is acually as timely as it was when it was written sometime around 400 B.C. Hard to believe.
Get on the right page.......2004-08-25
The reviews attached here seem to refer to another collection by another translator--the Arrowsmith edition, apparently. Instead of "Clouds" we have two lesser plays--"Parliament of Women" and "Wealth." The translation's lively, the notes very helpful, the glossary mentioned in other reviews is absent here. All in all, a very useful introduction to Aristophanes, and endless fun.
ancient Greek comedy at its best.......2004-04-05
Aristophanes was to theatre what Socrates was to religion and politics--the funny, irreverent "bad boy." My favorite of these 4 plays has to be "The Clouds", which is in fact a parody mocking and making fun of Socrates (spelled or mis-spelled Sokrates). Very funny dialogue.
David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"
Great Student Edition.......2002-10-31
This book is physically constructed like a student edition -- i.e., cheaply. The paper is cheap and thick, the ink thick and sometimes blotchy, with that great newspaper smell. If you're looking for a lovely edition of Aristophanes to sit on the mantle with your nice books, this is not.
The text is also organized like a student edition. The translations are great, lively, readable and fun. Each of the four plays is followed by a commentary, with textual and contextual explanation (pointing out Greek jokes that couldn't be translated, explaining Athenian politics, etc.). The back of the book is a glossary of names, places and institutions. The aids are clear and very helpful, especially for first time readers.
Customer Reviews:
Trusting Pisthetaerus builds a utopian city for the Birds.......2002-06-11
The problem with "The Birds" ("Ornithes") is that for once Aristophanes does not seem to be attacking some specific abuse in Athens. Still, we suspect that even this little fantasy is not simply escapist entertainment. Certainly there are those who see it as a political satire about the imperialistic dreams that resulted in the disastrous invasion of Sicily (which happened the year before his play was produced in 414 B.C.). Then again, this could just be Aristophanes bemoaning the decline of Athens.
Pisthetaerus ("Trusting") and Euelpides ("Hopeful") have grown tired of life in Athens and decide to build a utopia in the sky with the help of the birds, which they will name Necphelococcygia (which translates roughly as "Cloud Cuckoo Land"). Pisthetaerus and his feathered friends have to fight off those unworthy humans, malefactors and public nuisances all, who try and join their utopia. Then there are the gods, who come to make some sort of agreement with the new city because they have created a bottleneck for sacrifices coming from earth.
Because it is a more general satire, "The Birds" tends to work better with younger audiences than most comedies by Aristophanes. Besides, the chorus of birds lends itself to fantastic costumes, which is always a plus with young theater goers. In studying any of the Greek plays that remain it is important to I have always maintained that in studying Greek plays you want to know the dramatic conventions of these plays like the distinction between episodes and stasimons (scenes and songs), the "agon" (a formal debate on the crucial issue of the play), and the "parabasis" (in which the Chorus partially abandons its dramatic role and addresses the audience directly). Understanding these really enhances your enjoyment of the play.
Book Description
Aristophanes is the only surviving representative of Greek Old Comedy, the exuberant, satirical form of festival drama which flourished during the heyday of classical Athenian culture in the fifth century BC. His plays are characterized by extraordinary combinations of fantasy and satire, sophistication and vulgarity, formality and freedom. Birds is an escapist fantasy in which two dissatisfied Athenians, in defiance of men and gods, bring about a city of birds, the eponymous Cloudcuckooland. In Lysistrata the heroine of the play organizes a sex-strike and the wives of Athens occupy the Akropolis in an attempt to restore peace to the city. The main source of comedy in the Assembly-Women is a similar usurpation of male power as the women attempt to reform Athenian society along utopian-communist lines. Finally, Wealth is Aristophanes' last surviving comedy, in which Ploutos, the god of wealth is cured of his blindness and the remarkable social consequences of his new discrimination are exemplified. This is the first complete verse translation of Aristophanes' comedies to appear for more than twenty-five years and makes freshly available one of the most remarkable comic playwrights in the entire Western tradition, complete with an illuminating introduction including play by play analysis and detailed notes.
Customer Reviews:
A Review on Aristophanes' Plays.......2001-04-02
Aristophanes is considered the finest comic playwrite of the Classical Era. This is certainly born out through the selection in this volume. Birds is a comedy about an Athenian who decides to incite the birds to take over the world and replace the classical deities as its rulers. Both Lysistrata and Assembly-Women are about what would happen if the women took over the government. In the former, the women of Greece band together in a sex-strike, to end the Pelopennesian Wars. In the later, the Athenian women use trickery to be elected the the leaders of the democracy, and they institute economic and sexual communism. In the last selection, Wealth, the deity of Wealth, Ploutos, is captured and made to distribute wealth only to the good. However, as Poverty points out, that might not be a good thing. These plays are full of topical comedy, but much of the humor still is funny 2400 years later. The translation is very uncensored, as Greek comedy itself was, so that very little is lost in metaphor. The imagery in some of them is highly amusing. Although this is a great example of the way life was in Classic Athens, these plays are not for the squeamish!!
Customer Reviews:
Three early Greek comedies by Aristophanes.......2004-07-30
"Aristophanes I" brings together three of the Greek comedians earliest extant comedies. The legend is that when Aristophanes' comedy "The Clouds" was first performed in Athens in 423 B.C., his target, Socrates, stood throughout the performance so that everyone in the audience was aware that he was there and hearing what was said of him. The portrait of Socrates clearly satirical and most critics consider it to be inaccurate. But Aristophanes is making fun of Athens' renowned "Think-tank" the "Phrontisterion," the school where the rich young men of Athens were taught the fine art of rhetoric. Instead of anything lofty the comic poet suggests the primary purpose of such an education is to be clever and out-reason greedy creditors. This is an especially good translation of the play, which includes insightful notes and essays on both Old Comedy and the Theater of Dionysus that helps readers understand the conventions of staged comedy at the time of Aristophanes.
In this comedy Socrates is consulted by an old rogue, Strepsiades (sometimes translated as "Twisterson"), who is upset with the mountain of debts his playboy son Phidippides, who loves fast horses and fast living. Phidippides agrees to go to Socrates' school of logic where he can learn to make a wrong argument sound right. After graduation is able to use the system of "unjust logic" to outwit his father and kick him out of the family home. The Chorus of Clouds comments on the proceedings and in the end the Phrontisterion is burned to the ground by Strepsiades. The flaw of the play is Aristophanes is trying to satirize the Sophists, who were popularizing a new philosophy that denied the possibility of ever reaching objective truth, he picked the wrong target. The Sophists were mostly teachers who were not native to Athens, such as Isocartes and Gorgias. "Sophist" basically meant teacher, so while Socrates was a "sophist" he was not a "Sophist." Twenty-four years later, when Socrates was condemned to death for "corrupting the youth of Athens," the only accuser he said he could name was a certain "comic poet" who renamed nameless.
The version of "The Clouds" that has passed down to us is not the original version, which was defeated by Cratinus' "Wine Flask" at a comedy competition during the Great Dionysia celebrations. We know this is a revised version because the Chorus complains about Aristophanes finishing third in that competition. However, critics assume it is essentially the same play, albeit a more polished version. Once you forgive Aristophanes for his unfair characterization of Socrates, "The Clouds" is a great comedy employing all of his standard tricks of the trade from fantasy and ribaldry to funny songs and obscene words.
"Wasps" ("Sphekes") appeals to contemporary audiences because it satirizes the litigiousness of the Athenians. Actually, the play, produced in 422 B.C., is more about the permanent tensions between conservative and liberal politics. Aristophanes is attacking the practice of the politician Cleon's exploitation of the large subsidized juries used in by the Athenian legal system. Bdelcylen ("Cleon-hater"), representing the position of the playwright, maintains that pay for public service is the device of demagogues to purchase loyalty. His father Philocleon("Cleon-lover"), a mean and waspish old man who has a passion for serving on juries, represents the Athenians.
Bdelcylen arranges for a court to be held at home to hear Philocleon's stupid little case of accusing the dog of the house of stealing cheese. The old man is cured of his passion for juries, becoming a drunkard instead. The best scenes in "Wasps" are Philocleon's attempts to escape when Bdelcyclen locks him up and the scene where the poor dog is tried. Certainly this play is representative of Aristophanes as a reformer, who wanted to persuade his audiences to change their foolish ways by ridiculing them on stage.
The problem with "The Birds" ("Ornithes") is that for once Aristophanes does not seem to be attacking some specific abuse in Athens. Still, we suspect that even this little fantasy is not simply escapist entertainment. Certainly there are those who see it as a political satire about the imperialistic dreams that resulted in the disastrous invasion of Sicily (which happened the year before his play was produced in 414 B.C.). Then again, this could just be Aristophanes bemoaning the decline of Athens.
Pisthetaerus ("Trusting") and Euelpides ("Hopeful") have grown tired of life in Athens and decide to build a utopia in the sky with the help of the birds, which they will name Necphelococcygia (which translates roughly as "Cloud Cuckoo Land"). Pisthetaerus and his feathered friends have to fight off those unworthy humans, malefactors and public nuisances all, who try and join their utopia. Then there are the gods, who come to make some sort of agreement with the new city because they have created a bottleneck for sacrifices coming from earth. Because it is a more general satire, "The Birds" tends to work better with younger audiences than most comedies by Aristophanes. Besides, the chorus of birds lends itself to fantastic costumes, which is always a plus with young theater goers.
In studying any of the Greek plays that remain it is important to I have always maintained that in studying Greek plays you want to know the dramatic conventions of these plays like the distinction between episodes and stasimons (scenes and songs), the "agon" (a formal debate on the crucial issue of the play), and the "parabasis" (in which the Chorus partially abandons its dramatic role and addresses the audience directly). Understanding these really enhances your enjoyment of the play.
Three classic plays translated for performers and students.......2004-02-03
Better known for translating the great Greek tragedies, Peter Meineck has now turned his pen on the comedies, with generally positive results. Like other translations published by Hackett, this one is aimed squarely at today's college students. It has plenty of historical background for those who want it, or can be read just for the plays.
Translating comedy is trickier than tragedy, because jokes are so fickle. What one society finds hilarious, another might find distasteful. Meineck does his best to render the old Greek jokes and still be funny. He doesn't always succeed. His skills at punning are not as great as Aristophanes', nor do the jokes about minor Athenian figures like Theorus and Cardopion add much to a performance text.
And these are performance texts. No matter how faithful to the original, no matter how many footnotes and endnotes the translator provides, a student should still be wary of changes made for modern performance. Today's theater operates under an entirely different set of conventions.
The plays themselves are three genuine classics, WASPS being less known than CLOUDS and BIRDS, but in this book, perhaps the best. Procleon's obsession with jury service and the headaches it causes his son translates very well, and Meineck is surprisingly adept at rendering the political understory that subliminally critizes the Athenian leader Cleon.
BIRDS is the story of two friends who come up with one of the great comic plans: a utopia named Cloudcuckooland where they, with the help of the birds, rule both the gods and men. And it works!
CLOUDS is read most often because it features a comic version of Socrates and his 'Pondertorium.' While Meineck and Introduction writer Ian C. Storey conclude the portrayal of Socrates is entirely innaccurate, it sure is funny. CLOUDS is really more of a father-son story, a father convincing his profligate son to get an education in order to argue the father's way out of the accumulating debts. What the father doesn't bank on is his son using new-learned rhetorical skills to argue that a son has the right to beat his father.
Meineck is British, so the slang in the plays is full of 'poofters' and 'arses.' I will say this much, only recently have translations of the Greek comic playwrights begun to reflect how genuinely bawdy they were. Some of Meineck's best footnotes let you in on the double-entendres.
It's all a lot of silly mischief, and in the final reckoning Aristophanes comes through loud and clear, despite such devices as rhymed doggerel passages (no rhymes in classical Greek) and confusing name translations like Makemedo. The title of this book is ARISTOPHANES I, and let us hope that professor Meineck is at work on an ARISTOPHANES II that will include some of Aristophanes lesser-known works as well as perennial favorite LYSISTRATA.
Book Description
Aristophanes (ca. 446-386
BCE), one of the world's greatest comic dramatists, has been admired since antiquity for his iridescent wit and beguiling fantasy, exuberant language, and brilliant satire of the social, intellectual, and political life of Athens at its height. In this third volume of a new Loeb Classical Library edition of Aristophanes, Jeffrey Henderson presents a freshly edited Greek text and a lively, unexpurgated translation of three plays with full explanatory notes.
In Birds Aristophanes turns from the pointed political satire characteristic of earlier plays to a fantasy that soars literally into the air in search of a carefree world. Here the enterprising protagonists create a utopian counter-Athens, called Cloudcuckooland, ruled by birds. Lysistrata blends boisterous comedy and an earnest call for peace. Lysistrata, our first comic heroine, organizes a panhellenic conjugal strike of young wives until their husbands end the war between Athens and Sparta. Athenian women again take center stage in Women at the Thesmophoria, this time to punish Euripides for portraying them as wicked. Parody of Euripides' plots enlivens this witty confrontation of the sexes.
Customer Reviews:
THE modern Aristophanes translation.......2002-04-30
Professor Henderson's new translations of Aristophanes are uncensored, readable, fresh, and ultimately extremely enjoyable. He captures how Aristophanes probably would write if he lived today, with frank yet poetic language that brings these comedic gems to light. I have heard Professor Henderson's translation of Women at the Thesmophoria read aloud; the only thing funnier--and raunchier--I have heard since then has been a reading of his translation of Assemblywomen. Somehow Aristophanes manages to entertain his audience with the lowest of humor while invoking serious intellectual themes. (Imagine if people like Adam Sandler had brains. . .)
N.B. This is not your grandmother's Greek theater! Aristophanes, particularly as rendered by Professor Henderson, will make you rethink your notion of the Classics as dull, snooty, Stoic dust-gatherers in the far corner of the libary.
Enjoy!
Book Description
`Aristophanes adicts unite! This book is for us. It has everything that we always wanted to know about Birds and we were unable to find in one place.' Greek Gazette `The commentary elucidates with an experts knowledge of syntax, meter, and artifacts... The volume will remain authoritative for generations.' Religious Studies Review This is the first comprehensive edition in any language of the Birds, a play generally recognized as one of Aristophanes' masterpieces - both for its imaginative plot and for the charm and originality of its lyrics. The commentary gives generous help with the translation, to cater for the less advanced student of Greek, and also with interpretation and the lyric metres, as well as fully discussing the staging. It uses the resources of modern ornithology to elucidate Aristophanes' references to birds. The introduction discusses the nature of the play; its historical and mythological background; the history of the text, including the contributions of ancient scholars recorded in the scholia, which are exceptionally important in this play; and also more recent scholarship.
Customer Reviews:
Trusting Pisthetaerus builds a utopian city for the Birds.......2002-04-18
The problem with "The Birds" ("Ornithes") is that for once Aristophanes does not seem to be attacking some specific abuse in Athens. Still, we suspect that even this little fantasy is not simply escapist entertainment. Certainly there are those who see it as a political satire about the imperialistic dreams that resulted in the disastrous invasion of Sicily (which happened the year before his play was produced in 414 B.C.). Then again, this could just be Aristophanes bemoaning the decline of Athens.
Pisthetaerus ("Trusting") and Euelpides ("Hopeful") have grown tired of life in Athens and decide to build a utopia in the sky with the help of the birds, which they will name Necphelococcygia (which translates roughly as "Cloud Cuckoo Land"). Pisthetaerus and his feathered friends have to fight off those unworthy humans, malefactors and public nuisances all, who try and join their utopia. Then there are the gods, who come to make some sort of agreement with the new city because they have created a bottleneck for sacrifices coming from earth.
Because it is a more general satire, "The Birds" tends to work better with younger audiences than most comedies by Aristophanes. Besides, the chorus of birds lends itself to fantastic costumes, which is always a plus with young theater goers. In studying any of the Greek plays that remain it is important to I have always maintained that in studying Greek plays you want to know the dramatic conventions of these plays like the distinction between episodes and stasimons (scenes and songs), the "agon" (a formal debate on the crucial issue of the play), and the "parabasis" (in which the Chorus partially abandons its dramatic role and addresses the audience directly). Understanding these really enhances your enjoyment of the play.
You can lead a horse to water..........2000-05-10
Or rather, you can give an Athenian wings but he won't become a gentle agrarian bird rather, he'll rouse the citizenship, attack the Gods, and turn on you at the last possible moment. While some literary critics tout this as Aristophanes' most unfathomable work, well, I just think they're being silly. Maybe that's my own lack of education speaking, but I think The Birds a pretty obvious, as well as bitingly funny, commentary on humans, or men, or Athenians (all of these concepts probably being more or less the same to Aristophanes)as hopelessly political and power-hungry beings. One thing I love about this, and, I suppose, all of the Greek dramas, is that they are ultimately very malleable and applicable to my (our?) modern experience. (With a certain ammount of difficulty) you can lead a 21st Century North American to social conciousness but they're still gonna want and have the economic buying power to get, cheap Nikes. Cynical? Yes. Scathing? Yes. Real? You betcha. Sure we've got indoor plumbing, but our cultural context is back in the golden age. Lucky we've still got dudes like Aristophanes to give us a clue as to how to slog through it all.
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