Three Comedies: The Birds/The Clouds/The Wasps

by Aristophanes, William Arrowsmith (Editor), Douglas Parker (Translator)

Contains The Birds, The Clouds, and The Wasps

Genres: Classics, Drama, Plays, Fiction, Poetry, Literature, Comedy

408 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 415

About the author

Aristophanes (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."

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think anybody cares how I rate Aristophanes: people have been enjoying his plays for two millennia, so it's safe to say the verdict is in. Instead I'm going to rate the modern Aristophanes translations, the quality of which is highly variable. Slang and bawdry seem to be the hardest things to translate, more on account of the people who tend to become translators, I think -- especially translators of ancient Greek -- than of the difficulties inherent in approximating lively foulness. In English Aristophanes has suffered pretty badly; you have to really dig for a translation that conveys why the ancients enjoyed this guy so much.

Disclaimer: I don't know Greek, so I can only judge how these translations read in English - and make no mistake, these are all in English English: it's 'bloody' this and 'bugger' that, with 'poofters' and 'bumboys' galore, which sound to this American like the sort of imprecations you let fly when the waitstaff at Gordon Ramsay serves you some ill-blackened swordfish. But I didn't deduct points for Britishness -- not even for all the 'arses', which I have no idea what to do with -- only for stuff that'd be lousy in any dialect.

Meineck: A
Bartlett & Sommerstein: B
Theodoridis: B
Einhorn (Lysistrata): C+ (his Lampito is straight out of 'Bamboozled')
Halliwell: C
Arrowsmith, Parker, and Lattimore: D-
Henderson: F
Ruden: Oof. In the words of Dean Vernon Wormer - "Zero point zero."

Meineck only did these three plays, so until he gives us an "Aristophanes II" we're stuck with the OK Bartlett & Sommerstein and the slightly unhinged Theodoridis ("Because, by Salty Poseidon, we are so piss-weak ourselves!"). Feel free to take a crayon and a sense of humor to their pages, however: I've found that if you tune up the B&S or give the Theodoridis some Ritalin, they both read decently well. And they are worth reading: Aristophanes is great!

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great translations. These aren't the historical versions, however; all have been somewhat tampered with in an attempt to make them acting versions. Strangely, however, it seems that the translator's ad libs and changes in a way DO make it more historical- they're hilarious. Even the Wasps, one of Aristophanes' least enticing plays becomes great! The translators have a great knack for bringing the playwright's absurdity to life.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

We read "The Clouds" in freshman year seminar and I remember begin surprised by some of the theatrical conventions for Greek comedy and enjoying the lampooning of philosophers.

I haven't read "The Birds" but did just read "The Wasps" for the first time. This time through, I was even more astounded by the bawdyness of the comedy (there's a naked flute girl bit at the end, for example, that I think would push boundaries today). I was also surprised at how good the farce and slapstick were. There are chunks in the middle that I would completely excise, but I love the net-covered house, the calling of a cheese grater as a witness, the wacky chants from the chorus, and the servant master relationship never gets old for me.

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good reading translation of The Clouds in this volume - Arrowsmith definitely renders the play readable and makes several of the more topical jokes relevant to modern audiences. However, there are several liberties taken at points which can alter the reader's understanding of the subtleties of the play's critique of Socrates. If one were seriously studying this play, it would be worthwhile to cross-reference several editions.

The Frogs and the Wasps are also readable translations, but based on my experience with the rendition of The Clouds, I would be similarly careful were I to examine either play critically.

[Willem van der Scheun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although Clouds is always presented as a satire about Socrates, I found it much more a satire about the main character Strepsiades, his son Pheidippides and sophist reasoning. Actually it's probably a satire about all and everything and probably about Athenian life in general. Most of the dialogue between Socrates and Strepsiades is Socrates making fun of the "fossilized, forgetful old fool."

It was more or less fun to read, and gives some feeling about what comedy must have been in 5th century Athens.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aristophanes is always a hoot, and different translators stretch his references by varying degrees to substitute culturally relevant references -- this one used "Salvation Army" in lieu of some Athenian religious/charitable activity, and it worked! As usual, Cleon gets insulted 19 ways, and there are the usual rustic/urban shticks, and Socrates gets slammed (unfairly, but very funny) and -- what can I say, ya hadda be there in 5th Century Athens (at least in your head during collegiate delusions) to get the full ride from this. Luckily, I had a prof who helped me get there.

[Christopher Sutch · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are adequate translations of notoriously difficult Greek to English works. They work by changing topical Greek subjects tackled by Aristophanes into rough American mid-20th-century analogs. The humor is still comprehensible and quite funny in places, though scholars won't like their lack of exactitude in matters of translation. Good for modern performances, though.

[Lizzytish · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review is on Birds. I'm no Greek scholar and I'm sure a lot went over my head. I did enjoy the play for the humor. I thought at times I was reading a Monty Python script or even at times, a Marx Brothers version of banter. The puns were great as were all things relating to birds. Reading the notes I saw how raunchy most of it was. I would love to see this acted out.

[Pirata · Rating 5 out of 5]

the translation is only a sliver of how well mr peter meineck conveys the comedy of aristophanes. i highly recommend this translation.

[Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

This translation has to be the best among the dozens I've encountered over the past few weeks of systematic exploration into Aristophanes' great works. Meineck's translation was exceptionally down-to-earth and comedic, though sometimes seemed a bit incongruous with the plays' historical background. The skilful manipulation of contemporary references and modern slangs results in a translation that is highly relatable to modern readers while also preserving an original taste of classical humours. I highly recommend this book to readers new to Aristophanes.

The three plays in the book are inarguably the best representations of the theatrical achievements of Aristophanes. Clouds has been his most well-known work for millennia, until probably the end of last century when Lysistrata became equally famous. From personal reading experience I'd say there's no doubt that Clouds stands out in many ways as the single best play by comical standards. Satirically speaking the play was also among the most debated plays in history, mainly over whom the playwright was satirizing and what the motivations were. The sheer amount of derivative works on Clouds is enough to prove the lasting values of the work, if not further embellishing it. Wasps on the other hand, was less dramatic and comedic in comparison to Clouds; this was partially due to the topic which it concerned, as the play was among the most politically satirical works of Aristophanes. Yet on the other side, this fusion between politics and drama presented Wasps as a good specimen for studying contemporary Athenian politics and, in particular, its judiciary system. Accompanied by informative annotations from MacDowell, Wasps became the most information-intensive play of all three. The last play, Birds, was often compared to Frogs, in a sense that they both involved large amounts of interactions between the mortals and the divines, and in both cases, absurdity arisen as a result of this interaction. Speaking about absurdity, it is worth mentioning that several of Aristophanes' plays had recurrent theme of absurdity, usually in the form of straightforward contradiction with the reality. While I certainly don't possess the wit to analyze this theme detailedly, I believe it is an element important to the playwright's comedies. In addition,
Birds's best known for the phrase "cloud cuckoo land" which was in some ways interchangeable with "utopia".

Aside from all the literariness, what Aristophanes' plays impressed me the most was its unaffected embrace of humanism, even the gods and goddesses were portrayed with excessive human sensitivities. Considering that most of Aristophanes' works came out during the tumultuous years of the Peloponnesian War, it is truly amazing to picture such an image:

With hordes of Spartan heavy infantries stationed outside of the defensive walls of Athens, the smell of war diffused into every corner of the city and the fear of uncertainty spread through the air, yet the Athenians could not be troubled by the immense pressure from Spartans, nor would they be bothered by insidious political struggles and sporadic breakout of plagues, for they spent the most prime of their time enjoying poems, songs, plays, and dramas. People gathered at Dionysia and Lenaia to celebrate the latest dramatic achievements from all of Hellas while indulging themselves with revels and carnivals. What kind of preposterous image must that be! I couldn't help but wonder whether the Athenians were choked with despise of war or were simply dreaded with years of violence and defeat. Either way, it must be an absurd world in which Aristophanes composed his works and present to his audiences -- or is it? I always thought I knew much about ancient Athenian life until I started reading primary sources from contemporary Athenians, and the more I read, the more strange and foreign ancient Athens becomes. I hope reading what the ancients read and imagining what they imagined is a good way for me to kickstart my voyage of diving deeper into understanding the psychological life of ancient Greeks.

Last but not least, for those of you who want nothing but an hour-long LOL spree, this book is also strongly recommended thanks to Meineck's brilliantly hilarious translation.

[P.K. Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I had to choose one word to describe Aristophanes' humor it would be burlesque. Of the three plays, I most enjoyed the Wasps for its parody of the jury system. But all three plays provide keen insight into the day-to-day lives of typical Athenians. From Strepsiades' complaints about his long-haired horse racing son (in Clouds) to the troop of characters who descend upon the new sky city Cloudcuckooland (in Birds) to get their slice of the action (poet-for-hire, an informer, an inspector, an "oracle-monger"), each play demonstrates that not much has changed in human nature over the last two thousand plus years.

[Jackson Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy shit this book is actually so good it’s so funny I love it so much Aristophanes is by far my favorite classic author this man can WRITE this book has so many good jokes I highly recommend anyone read it

[Magen · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are not quite true translations, but they were more fun to read. None can ever beat Lysistrata as by favorites, but of the three here I liked The Birds best and found Arrowsmith's style to be the more enjoyable. Solid enough to read, but probably even better performed.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this translation for a modern reader. It’s very accessible and also includes excellent footnotes and endnotes.

[Avery C. M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious

[Kiersten Waters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good translation
Just read the wasps
I liked it more than I thought I would

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed Clouds the most and a lot of the humor holds up, but this translation updates a lot of jokes for a 20th century British audience, so it's tough to know what I'm reading. I think I prefer a translation somewhat closer to the original text.