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Four Comedies: Lysistrata/The Acharnians/The Congresswomen/The Frogs
Contains Lysistrata, The Congresswomen, The Acharnians, and The Frogs
432 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 392
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About the author
Aristophanes
2,065 books744 followersAristophanes (Greek: Αριστοφάνης; c. 446 – c. 386 BC) was an Ancient Greek comic playwright from Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. These provide the most valuable examples of a genre of comic drama known as Old Comedy and are used to define it, along with fragments from dozens of lost plays by Aristophanes and his contemporaries.
Also known as "The Father of Comedy" and "the Prince of Ancient Comedy", Aristophanes has been said to recreate the life of ancient Athens more convincingly than any other author. His powers of ridicule were feared and acknowledged by influential contemporaries; Plato singled out Aristophanes' play The Clouds as slander that contributed to the trial and subsequent condemning to death of Socrates, although other satirical playwrights had also caricatured the philosopher.
Aristophanes' second play, The Babylonians (now lost), was denounced by Cleon as a slander against the Athenian polis. It is possible that the case was argued in court, but details of the trial are not recorded and Aristophanes caricatured Cleon mercilessly in his subsequent plays, especially The Knights, the first of many plays that he directed himself. "In my opinion," he says through that play's Chorus, "the author-director of comedies has the hardest job of all."
Also known as "The Father of Comedy" and "the Prince of Ancient Comedy", Aristophanes has been said to recreate the life of ancient Athens more convincingly than any other author. His powers of ridicule were feared and acknowledged by influential contemporaries; Plato singled out Aristophanes' play The Clouds as slander that contributed to the trial and subsequent condemning to death of Socrates, although other satirical playwrights had also caricatured the philosopher.
Aristophanes' second play, The Babylonians (now lost), was denounced by Cleon as a slander against the Athenian polis. It is possible that the case was argued in court, but details of the trial are not recorded and Aristophanes caricatured Cleon mercilessly in his subsequent plays, especially The Knights, the first of many plays that he directed himself. "In my opinion," he says through that play's Chorus, "the author-director of comedies has the hardest job of all."
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 25, 2018
I was unprepared for this comedic play which seems impossibly modern and slapstick. I was looking for a copy of The Frogs, attributed to Aristophanes and performed 405 B.C. This particular edition was translated by Richard Lattimore, who translated a popular version of the Iliad, though it seems dated now. This play, on the other hand, virtually jumps off the page with vitality & energy.
Lattimore has translated this humor broadly; he says in his introduction to this play that he hates to explain the humor to us because that always makes it unfunny, but I would guess it is beyond the vast majority of folks to understand he is satirizing Aeschylus and Euripides...I suppose it works as general comedy, but it would certainly be better for those who have studied Classics.
I give it four stars only because I'm not sure I got it completely...and I wouldn't want to give Aristophanes less than that.
Lattimore has translated this humor broadly; he says in his introduction to this play that he hates to explain the humor to us because that always makes it unfunny, but I would guess it is beyond the vast majority of folks to understand he is satirizing Aeschylus and Euripides...I suppose it works as general comedy, but it would certainly be better for those who have studied Classics.
I give it four stars only because I'm not sure I got it completely...and I wouldn't want to give Aristophanes less than that.
February 14, 2013
Aristophanes is a funny guy and he writes funny plays. Like all the best comedians, he manages to slip some serious stuff into the mirth and merriment (and abundant priapism), as he sharply critiques aspects of his society, his government and his fellow playwrights. I very much enjoyed the 'peace' theme in Lysistrata and The Acharnians - a somewhat daring point of view to take while your country is in the middle of a war. The mix of high and low comedy felt very Shakespearean, although from now on I should say Shakespeare's comedy seems very Aristophanian.
I do have a critique of my own for Douglass Parker's translations of three of the four plays in the book (Lysistrata, The Acharnians and The Congresswomen). Parker saw his job, apparently, as bringing Aristophanes into the present so a modern audience would get the jokes. He did this by substituting anachronistic 20th Century American idioms, references and puns for those of 5th Century BCE Greece. (Example: "We want to get laid," say the women in Lysistrata at one point.) It must be particularly frustrating for a translator because so much of Aristophanes' humor and wordplay is essentially untranslatable (the universality of poop jokes excepted, of course). I found this 'modernizing' technique often interrupted the narrative flow, and distracted me from my perspective. Admittedly, my perspective was this: imagining what it must have been like being in the Theater of Dionysus watching Aristophanes' new play for the first time. So when Mr. Parker has a character refer to something or someone that didn't exist then, or use an idiom or slang expression you might hear on SNL, it threw me out of my pleasant time-travel fantasy. (Are we in Ancient Greece or am I at Second City?) I think I understand the concept in theory (I guess the idea is that if Aristophanes were doing a revival of his plays on Broadway in 2013, he wouldn't treat them as museum pieces - he'd put in jokes the audience would understand), but in practice it could be annoying.
On the other hand, I did laugh quite a bit at the first three plays, more than at The Frogs, which was translated in a much more conventional style by Richard Lattimore. Adhering more closely to the original text had its drawbacks - it wasn't nearly as funny as the others, and I don't think that was Aristophanes' fault. Instead of substituting modern American slang, Lattimore explained all the Greek language puns in footnotes, which took all the humor out of them. As the old comic once said, "If you gotta explain 'em...."
I do have a critique of my own for Douglass Parker's translations of three of the four plays in the book (Lysistrata, The Acharnians and The Congresswomen). Parker saw his job, apparently, as bringing Aristophanes into the present so a modern audience would get the jokes. He did this by substituting anachronistic 20th Century American idioms, references and puns for those of 5th Century BCE Greece. (Example: "We want to get laid," say the women in Lysistrata at one point.) It must be particularly frustrating for a translator because so much of Aristophanes' humor and wordplay is essentially untranslatable (the universality of poop jokes excepted, of course). I found this 'modernizing' technique often interrupted the narrative flow, and distracted me from my perspective. Admittedly, my perspective was this: imagining what it must have been like being in the Theater of Dionysus watching Aristophanes' new play for the first time. So when Mr. Parker has a character refer to something or someone that didn't exist then, or use an idiom or slang expression you might hear on SNL, it threw me out of my pleasant time-travel fantasy. (Are we in Ancient Greece or am I at Second City?) I think I understand the concept in theory (I guess the idea is that if Aristophanes were doing a revival of his plays on Broadway in 2013, he wouldn't treat them as museum pieces - he'd put in jokes the audience would understand), but in practice it could be annoying.
On the other hand, I did laugh quite a bit at the first three plays, more than at The Frogs, which was translated in a much more conventional style by Richard Lattimore. Adhering more closely to the original text had its drawbacks - it wasn't nearly as funny as the others, and I don't think that was Aristophanes' fault. Instead of substituting modern American slang, Lattimore explained all the Greek language puns in footnotes, which took all the humor out of them. As the old comic once said, "If you gotta explain 'em...."
June 7, 2023
I was introduced to Aristophanes my first year in college (29 years ago – oy!), reading what’s translated here as The Congresswomen. It was hilarious. I read a couple more of his plays a few years ago and found them also very funny, so I figured it was time to revisit the gals and read a couple others I hadn’t read yet. Aristophanes is perfect when your brain’s too tired for really dense stuff and you could use a laugh, but you still want an original, critical thinker giving you something of substance (of course Seinfeld and the Simpsons fit the bill fairly well, too, and I’d argue they each give you some meat to chew on, or hearty vegetables if you prefer).
March 30, 2009
Douglass Parker, trans
The Congresswomen
"political opinion: three obol (paid) assembly transforms polis into something unthinkable
why then! now anything can happen
why not have a state takeover masterminded by wild-eyed radical transvestite women who turn the state into fullblown utopian communistic welfare state"
Lysistrata
"debased mountain dialect Sparta v Athens (city)" excellent translation
by what mechanism does the absurd work?
what is the difference between the ridiculous which we find dumb and the ridiculous which we find disarming?
Acharnians
dialectologist, yes; but friggin' comedian first
aristophanes precedent for both moliere and beckett
The Congresswomen
"political opinion: three obol (paid) assembly transforms polis into something unthinkable
why then! now anything can happen
why not have a state takeover masterminded by wild-eyed radical transvestite women who turn the state into fullblown utopian communistic welfare state"
Lysistrata
"debased mountain dialect Sparta v Athens (city)" excellent translation
by what mechanism does the absurd work?
what is the difference between the ridiculous which we find dumb and the ridiculous which we find disarming?
Acharnians
dialectologist, yes; but friggin' comedian first
aristophanes precedent for both moliere and beckett
May 21, 2007
Douglass Parker is my favorite translator of Aristophanes; among all of the others I've read, his translations are closest to the spirit of Aristophanes, though not always the most accurate. And 'The Frogs' is just my favorite Aristophanean comedy; to see the the three giants of Greek tragedy brought down to earth, humbled and slightly humiliated is a treat: Euripides gets it the worst, more so than Sophocles (Aristophanes' favorite, if he has one) or Aeschylus. Lattimore as always translates well, though, by now, his language might seem a bit antiquated.
May 24, 2014
This collection of comedies is fun to read and easy to understand (thanks not only to the translation but also to the detailed notes which are provided at the end of each play and explain references to the classical world. That there is a note corresponding to a line is indicated by a small asterik which does not break up the action of the play for those who do not want to read them). It fascinates me how different yet similar ancient comedy is to our own. Many tropes have remained the same today, though they are often given different weight.
May 25, 2012
Only having to read Lysistrata, I found this play a tad dull, yet a theme shown in this play will come back time and time again throughout all histories, and that is the role of women within a society. The play is straightforward and all women practice abstinence until the men make peace and stop the Peloponnese War. Even though Lysistrata is the voice behind the movement, it is the secondary character, Myrrhine's actions that lead the movement.
October 25, 2009
Never has scatological and prurient humor been so funny, so artistic in composition, or so politically relevant. Hey, scenes blocked out on a chamber pot never get old--even literary critics in the underwold would have to admit that.
July 21, 2015
Just read Parker's Lysistrata, not the others--what great wit and dialect! Captures Aristophanes's registers and humor better than any other translation I've read, even if it's more liberal and unorthodox.
September 12, 2008
You can't outdo the classics
July 19, 2024
Aristophanes remains one of the funniest writers to this date. One of my favs this summer
Lysistrata was genuinely so fascinating that it merited an immediate re-read. Obviously fiction, but its about the women of Athens banding together and occupying the Parthenon in order to keep their men from going to war with Sparta. The two choruses (men v. women) in this were honestly so silly. Girls get it done!
The Congresswomen: Actually hilarious. kind of a sit-com element. The characters in this are genuinely funny in their own right (with and without some of the body humor that the classical world so loved!) and the situation itself is entertaining (who doesn't love an all-girl takeover of the democratic assembly lol) I truly love the attention that Aristophanes gives women in his works.
The Frogs: The chorus of the play are little frogs--what's not to love! Dionysus goes in search of the best comedian in the underworld and what results is sidesplitting literary criticism.
Lysistrata was genuinely so fascinating that it merited an immediate re-read. Obviously fiction, but its about the women of Athens banding together and occupying the Parthenon in order to keep their men from going to war with Sparta. The two choruses (men v. women) in this were honestly so silly. Girls get it done!
The Congresswomen: Actually hilarious. kind of a sit-com element. The characters in this are genuinely funny in their own right (with and without some of the body humor that the classical world so loved!) and the situation itself is entertaining (who doesn't love an all-girl takeover of the democratic assembly lol) I truly love the attention that Aristophanes gives women in his works.
The Frogs: The chorus of the play are little frogs--what's not to love! Dionysus goes in search of the best comedian in the underworld and what results is sidesplitting literary criticism.
Read
November 28, 2024... only read "Lysistrata" not all four of these plays
... translated by Douglass Parker
... no proper review, because I read it aloud with two family members, which was a very enjoyable experience, but would have been regardless of the play.
... ribald and entertaining, though a bit one-note.
... I learned that sex strikes date back over 2000 years.
... translated by Douglass Parker
... no proper review, because I read it aloud with two family members, which was a very enjoyable experience, but would have been regardless of the play.
... ribald and entertaining, though a bit one-note.
... I learned that sex strikes date back over 2000 years.
December 11, 2019
Light reading, of sorts. This makes me glad I didn't take the classics as my field.
April 1, 2025
These two books edited by Arrowsmith are my favorite translations. They focus more on the spirit of the comedy than a literal translation, and it works. Even the notes have personality and charm.
July 16, 2024
Very interesting plays! Acharnians was the long and difficult one, I lost interest very soon. Others were a lot of fun.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews