Bibliograph

The birds and other plays, The knights, Peace, Wealth, The assembly women, Aristophanes ; translated with introductory matter by David Barrett and Alan H. Sommerstein

Type

Label

The birds and other plays, The knights, Peace, Wealth, The assembly women, Aristophanes ; translated with introductory matter by David Barrett and Alan H. Sommerstein

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references

Index

no index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

The birds and other plays

Responsibility statement

Aristophanes ; translated with introductory matter by David Barrett and Alan H. Sommerstein

Sub title

The knights, Peace, Wealth, The assembly women

Summary

The plays in this volume all contain Aristophanes' trademark bawdy comedy and dazzling verbal agility. In The Birds, two frustrated Athenians join the birds to build the utopian city of 'Much Cuckoo in the Clouds'. The Knights is a venomous satire on Cleon, a prominent Athenian demagogue, while The Assembly Women deals with the battle of the sexes as the women of Athens infiltrate the all-male Assembly in disguise. The lengthy conflict with Sparta is the subject of Peace, inspired by the hope of a settlement in 421 BC, and Wealth reflects on the economic catastrophe that hit Athens after the war

Classification