The Acharnians

by Aristophanes

Published 1 January 1920
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 of Aristophanes

by Aristophanes

Published 28 January 2013

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.