Classical Texts Series

Writing at the time of political and social crisis in Athens, Aristophanes was an eloquent yet bawdy challenger to the demagogue and the sophist. The Achanians is a plea for peace set against the background of the long war with Sparta.

The Birds

by Aristophanes

Published December 1950

This comprehensive edition of "Birds" aims to enable the reader, including the less-advanced student of Greek, to understand, interpret and enjoy the play. It is a play generally recognized as one of Aristophanes's masterpieces - both for its imaginative plot and for the charm and originality of its lyrics. The commentary gives 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's reference 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.

Lysistrata

by Aristophanes

Published December 1955

Aristophanes' Lysistrata was last edited in 1928, and the last commentary was in 1927; the only previous edition in English appeared in 1911. The present edition brings the play up to date in terms of the advances made in Aristophanic scholarship in the past sixty years. In particular, it is the first to report all the manuscripts, papyri, and testimonial sources of the text, offering a new account of its history and a detailed review of the transmission of the Aristophanic corpus as a whole.

The Frogs

by Aristophanes

Published December 1908

Among extant Greek comedies, the "Frogs" is unique for the light it throws on Classical Greek attitudes to tragedy and to literature in general. It merits a much more extensive commentary than it has so far received, and the establishment of the text itself has rested for over a century on collations which were inadequate and inaccurate. At the same time, its most problematic passages have been the subject, in recent years, of more scholarly articles than those of any other Greek play. In this introduction, edition, and commentary, Sir Kenneth Dover presents the relevant data, arguments, and considerations as fully as can reasonably be done in one volume. The book should be of interest to scholars and students of Classical (Greek) literature.

Thesmophoriazusae

by Aristophanes

Published 30 December 1988

Thesmophoriazusae was performed in Athens in 411 BCE, most likely at the City Dionysia, and is among the most brilliant of Aristophanes' eleven surviving comedies. It is the story of the crucial moment in a quarrel between the tragic playwright Euripides and Athens' women, who accuse him of slandering them in his plays and are holding a meeting at one of their secret festivals to set a penalty for his crimes. Thesmophoriazusae is a brilliantly inventive comedy, full of wild slapstick humour and devastating literary parody, and is a basic source for questions of gender and sexuality in late 5th-century Athens and for the popular reception of Euripidean tragedy.

Wealth

by Aristophanes

Published 31 December 2001

Peace

by Aristophanes

Published December 1964

This scholarly edition of Aristophanes' Peace was first published in 1964. It contains the Greek text, apparatus criticus and commentary with full notes on textual criticism. The introduction gives a good summary of the manuscript evidence for the play.

Ecclesiazusae

by Aristophanes

Published December 1973

Aristophanes' "Esslesiazusae", written in the early 4th Century BC, marks a crossroads in his career. Post-dating the Peloponnesian War, it reflects a late change in his writing and a much changed society. This edition includes the complete text.