New Comedy: Women in Power; Wealth; The Malcontent; The Woman from Samos (Classical Dramatists) - Softcover

Aristophanes, .

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0413671801 ISBN 13: 9780413671806

Publisher: Methuen Drama, 1994

Synopsis

An essential book for students of Greek drama and literature: Aristophanes is widely regarded as one of Ancient Greece's foremost satirists - offering students of the period a unique insight into the world of Athens and its theatre

Written in the century following the defeat of Athens by the Spartans in the Peloponnesian War, these four plays signal a change of emphasis in stage comedy more appropriate to the new world order of the fourth century Bc. Women in Power and Wealth complete the cycle of Aristophanes' extant plays begun in Aristophanes Plays: One and Two, translated by Kenneth McLeish and J Michael Walton. These editions provide full introductions; discussing the plays and placing them in their political and social context.

Aristophanes was a unique writer for the comic stage as well as one of the most revealing about the society for which he wrote.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Written in the century following the defeat of Athens by the Spartans in the Peloponnesian War, these four plays signal a change of emphasis in stage comedy more appropriate to the new world order of the fourth century BC. Aristophanes is the only Greek playwright whose work spans the fifth and fourth centuries BC and links the direct slapstick and bawdy of Old Comedy to the more subtle situational New Comedy. Women in Power and Wealth complete the cycle of Aristophanes's extant plays begun in Aristophanes Plays: One and Plays: Two, translated by Kenneth McLeish. Writing seventy years after Aristophanes's death, Menander's only complete surviving works, The Malcontent and The Woman from Samos are here translated by J. Michael Walton. Kenneth McLeish and J. Michael Walton provide full introductions, discussing the plays and placing them in their political and social context.

About the Author:

Aristophanes (c. 446-386 BC) was Athens's greatest comic playwright, whose plays define the genre of Old Comedy. His was a precise, poetic vision articulated in pin-sharp images, his works being some of the most revealing about the society for which he wrote. Although only eleven of the some forty plays he wrote survive, his unique blend of slapstick, fantasy, bawdy and political satire provide us with a vivid picture of the ancient Athenians - their social mores, their beliefs and their exuberant sense of occasion.

About this edition

• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0413671801
• ISBN 13: 9780413671806
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 266