The Eleven Comedies, Vol 1

نمایشنامه‌های آریستوفان #1

by Aristophanes

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Classics, Plays, Amazon

647 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 389

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

[MF · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Lysistrata is a play especially notable as it presents a group of peace-loving proto-feminists, who make a pact not to make love while their husbands make war. And this was written in the latter part of the 5th century bc! It is revolutionary and so ahead of its time that the world has yet to catch up with it. Some plays are sexually vulgar and bawdy, but that was to the fashion of the time. Aristophanes stands out as a playwright with few equals, full of in jokes and learned allusions amidst the bawdiness, he makes the ancient times come alive in ways only a visit to Pompeii might conjure up to the mind.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kindle-presentation: was reading the Gutenberg/Kindle digitization, so... a bit meh, there, for want of better phrasing. Phrases can appear in the middle of other phrases, typos can appear unsettlingly, the usual for its kind but not the worst of the lot. Footnotes receive numbers but not links- prepare to bookmark-present-location and search.

Source presentation: I remember reading part of a modern translation of one of these comedies (possibly one in Volume 2, though- the title doesn't ring a bell) and thinking to myself how racy and scatological the translation seemed compared to the older translations I recalled having in my possession. Comparison with this one suggests that age and publication date aren't themselves to blame; this one too dates, I think, from over a century ago, but is easily as unexpurgated as the modern translation I read. I found some of the contemporary bias in the footnotes irritating but that's on me maybe. Worst feature may be that some of the translation is, despite efforts on the part of the translator, still opaque and difficult reading! Compare eg Norman Lindsay's preface and translation of Lysistrata here (also @ Project Gutenberg) https://www.gutenberg.org/files/7700/... .

Also as to presentation, the preface is interesting and informative; high marks there. (I am no expert on the plays, the issues, the period etc. so to a great extent I do have to take the accuracy of the preface's presentation for granted, though there are some places where I can find more recent scholarly information to compare it to.)

I try, more and more, to start reviews from the point of view of presentation, since they're first-off reviews of the "Kindle Object" (or other format - Hardcover, etc.) in which I read the "abstract thing" and secondarily reviews of the "abstract thing", in cases at least in which there are enough versions/instantiations of the Ding an Sich (er-hrm) to make such a distinction worthwhile- as there are here of course (including stagings, most importantly :) .) Anyhow, if you have never read these plays, is it worth reading them in some reasonably good translation, all the above to the side? A very strong yes (especially if one takes the two volumes as a unit), though not necessarily in this edition.

[Kevin F · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading these dramas over a long period of time, reading one if I was on the train and had already finished the main book I brought. The edition I read contains The Knights, The Acharnians, Peace, Lysistrata, and The Clouds. My rating here is based only on my own enjoyment, as of course these works are of great historical and cultural significance. It was interesting to see how Aristophanes covers both "low" (every play contains at least one fart joke) and "high" humor (some of the Greek wordplay only comes out in the translator's notes). Overall this was interesting to read, but only in small doses.

[Andrew Barbin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent unique 2 volume set, originally prepared by anonymous translator(s)for a subscription only printing of the Athenian Society London in 1912. In 1928 Horace Liveright (NY) received a licence to print 2000 numbered copies with further editions prohibited.

The plays are timeless classics with ribald and biting satire,which a window on society in the first known democracy a mirror to our own. For as much as we think we have changed, Aristophanes reminds us that many of our faults and foibles are also timeless.

Jean de Brosshere is not my favorite Illustrator but they are examples of the Impressionists imprint on Illustration and add a certain elan to collection.

Of the plays, Lysistrata, the Wasps and Clouds are my favorites.