The Birds, Aristophanes/The Brothers Menaechmus, Plautus

by Aristophanes, Plautus, Peter D. Arnott (translator)

Translated and edited by Peter D. Arnott, this edition of Aristophanes: The Birds and Plautus: The Brothers Menaechmus for performance and study is annotated and includes an introduction that describes ancient Greek stagecraft and the metamorphosis from the Old Greek Comedy to the New Comedy in its Roman form. Also included are a list of the principal dates in the lives of Aristophanes and Plautus as well as a selected bibliography.

Genres: Plays, Drama

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

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

[Imen Inoubli Gharbi /reading bookswith imen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Birds by Aristophanes is an Ancient Greek Comedy
First performed: 414 BCE at the City Dionysia in Athens

The play is a fantastical comedy in which two disillusioned Athenians, Peisthetaerus and Euelpides, leave their corrupt city in search of a better life. They travel to the realm of the birds, where they convince the birds to build a utopian city in the sky—Cloudcuckooland.

Their goal? To block communication between gods and humans by occupying the airspace, effectively cutting off the Olympians from their offerings. As the city is built, Peisthetaerus rises to power, outsmarts the gods, and eventually becomes ruler of both gods and men, even marrying Basileia, the goddess of Sovereignty.

The Birds is one of Aristophanes' most imaginative and surreal plays, filled with witty wordplay, vibrant choruses of bird characters, and sharp political allegory. It mocks both the gods and the Athenians, suggesting that utopias are never free from human flaws—especially ambition.

[Benjamin Kozel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comedy of the fickleness of the people.

One of Aristophanes more subtle plays less foul humor and more clever fowl humor.
The didactic message of people being easily willed over is a little too hidden and doesn't quite stick. Aristophanes never seems to go all the way with what he's trying to say and it comes off more as high fantasy than anything deeper.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had only read Greek tragedy (The Oresteia and The Bacchae) before, and since I wasn't in the mood for something very serious, I decided to try and read these two comedies. The first is Greek and the second is Roman, but I enjoyed both of them.

I found the Roman comedy to be funnier to me, mostly because it doesn't rely on the political situation in which it was written to gets its humour across. The Brothers Menaechmus is an entertaining, hilarious read from start to finish. It's got great jokes, its witty, and it has a character literally named Sponge, which I think was my favourite thing about it.

I laughed more while reading these plays than I do while watching a mediocre sitcom. I highly recommend these comedies!

[Lise · Rating 2 out of 5]

this rating is only for the plautus -- i couldn't find an edition that was only that play. anyway. it was occasionally funny, but mostly just dumb.

[Bob Hancock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only read The Birds, off of Project Gutenberg

[Kelly]

The Brothers Menaechmus - only, read for college