Aristophanes





Aristophanes

Author profile


born
December 31, 0445 in Athens, Greece

died
December 31, 0385

gender
male

genre


About this author

Of all the writers of "Old Comedy", only one remains. Lost forever are the works of Chionides, Magnes, Ecphantides, Cratinus, Crates, and Eupolis. All the extant comedies of the fifth century B.C. belong to one man--Aristophanes. On his shoulders alone rests the reputation of an entire age of comedy. Fortunately, by most accounts Aristophanes was the greatest comic writer of his day.

By the time Aristophanes began to write his comedies, democracy had already begun to sour for the Athenians. The people were increasingly demoralized by the ongoing conflicts of the Peloponnesian War and the loss of their greatest hero, Pericles, had been taken from them and replaced by unscrupulous politicians such as Cleon and Hyperbolus. It is little wonder,...more


Average rating: 3.82 · 13,869 ratings · 516 reviews · 166 distinct works
Lysistrata
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3.79 of 5 stars 3.79 avg rating — 7,493 ratings — published -411 — 72 editions
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Four Plays by Aristophanes:...
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3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 avg rating — 1,842 ratings — published 1983 — 3 editions
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Clouds
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3.68 of 5 stars 3.68 avg rating — 1,079 ratings — published -423 — 81 editions
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Lysistrata and Other Plays
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3.8 of 5 stars 3.80 avg rating — 739 ratings — published -450 — 6 editions
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The Frogs
3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 653 ratings — published 1965 — 60 editions
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The Complete Plays of Arist...
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4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 avg rating — 371 ratings — published -388 — 60 editions
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The Acharnians/The Clouds/L...
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3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 avg rating — 275 ratings — published 411 — 3 editions
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The Birds and Other Plays
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3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 avg rating — 202 ratings — published 1999 — 5 editions
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The Wasps / The Poet and th...
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3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 avg rating — 135 ratings — published 1964
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Frogs and Other Plays
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3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 avg rating — 128 ratings — published -405 — 4 editions
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More books by Aristophanes…
“Youth ages, immaturity is outgrown, ignorance can be educated, and drunkenness sobered, but stupid lasts forever.”
Aristophanes

“Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may wet my mind and say something clever.”
Aristophanes

“By words the mind is winged.”
Aristophanes

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