Birds - Lysistrata - Women at the Thesmophoria

by Aristophanes, Jeffrey Henderson (Translator)

Aristophanes (ca. 446-386 b.c.), one of the world's greatest comic dramatists, has been admired since antiquity for his iridescent wit and beguiling fantasy, exuberant language, and brilliant satire of the social, intellectual, and political life of Athens at its height. In this third volume of a new Loeb Classical Library edition of Aristophanes' plays, Jeffrey Henderson presents a freshly edited Greek text facing a lively, unexpurgated translation with full explanatory notes.

In Birds Aristophanes turns from the pointed political satire characteristic of earlier plays to a fantasy that soars literally into the air in search of a carefree world. Here the enterprising protagonists create a utopian counter-Athens, called Cloudcuckooland, ruled by birds. Lysistrata blends uninhibited comedy and an earnest call for peace. Lysistrata, our first comic heroine, organizes a panhellenic conjugal strike of young wives until their husbands end the war between Athens and Sparta. Athenian women again take center stage in Women at the Thesmophoria, this time to punish Euripides for portraying them as wicked. Parody of Euripides' plots enlivens this witty confrontation of the sexes.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Classics, Classical Studies, Fiction, Theatre

624 pages, Hardcover

First published November 15, 2000

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

[Whitaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by the three plays in this collection. I can’t comment on the translation but if it captures the tone accurately the three plays came across to me as SNL a la ancient Greece. There are jibes at (then) current politicians and celebrities (Women at the Thesmophoria is basically a full-on roast of Euripides!), spoofs on other plays, just plainly crude burlesque on sex (both homo and hetero), drag queenery...

You really have to wonder whether 2,000 years from now, university courses on ancient Earth culture will have courses on the Comedies of SNL with descriptions like the one given at the GR description of this volume, to wit:

“SNL, one of the world's greatest comic dramatists, has been admired since antiquity for his iridescent wit and beguiling fantasy, exuberant language, and brilliant satire of the social, intellectual, and political life of the United States at its height. In this thirtieth volume of a new Loeb Classical Library edition of SNL’s plays, Paul Atreides presents a freshly edited English text facing a lively, unexpurgated translation with full explanatory notes.”

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nobody does politically flavored, thoughtful obscenity quite like Aristophanes.

[roibean · Rating 3 out of 5]

shits whack as hell [women at thesmophoria]

[Sebastián · Rating 4 out of 5]

BIRDS: i'm into birds so i had high expectations for bird content and bird-related jokes, was not disappointed. exciting to learn origin of "Cloud Cuckoo Land" and see lots of fourth-wall breaking.

LYSISTRATA: the reason i wanted to read this book was this play which came recommended by mum. gender play and sex jokes in the service of pacifist politics, brilliant. haven't read such a great Greek girl hero since Antigone. her strategy was way more organised and radical than just the famous "denying sex to men" bit, which was cool. thinking about it now, the happy ending is undercut by the real ongoing war with Sparta at the time, bittersweet i guess.

THESMOPHORIAZUSAE: since i've only read a few euripides plays, thought reading/appreciating a piss-take of him would be the toughest part of this collection but instead it was my favourite of the three. begins with the queerest theatre i've ever read, and ends with the euripedes character and his dragged-up kinsman desperately acting out famous scenes from tragedies to try and escape an execution. the play-within-a-play boundary-blurring is surprisingly postmodern and great.

all of three of these were super lewd and also weirdly similar to modern-day musicals. more than other greek stuff i've read i felt the music and dancing were essential to these, and that the text was only a tiny part of the show. sometimes hard for me to vibe with, but the mix of slap-stick and satire was perfect.

[Julia]

In the plays written by Aristophanes before the peace of Nicias in 421, the role and responsibilities of men within the polis are prominently portrayed. The comically vicious yet ultimately benevolent protagonists in these plays exhibit a caring attitude towards the polis, even as they prioritize their self-interest. Whether effecting positive change, as seen in characters like Agoracritus, or negative outcomes, as in the case of Strepsiades, Aristophanes explores dynamics within the community. There appears to be a thematic shift in Aristophanes' focus with the plays at hand, moving from "the man in the city" to the women in the city (Lysistrata and Women at the Thesmophoria) and, alternatively, to men escaping conventional political life (the Birds).

This volume of Aristophanes' work, like other volumes in the new edition of Loeb's library, features the Greek text with translations and introductions by Jeffrey Henderson. The inclusion of an index, bibliographies, and footnotes elucidating references to historical figures and events enhances the reader's comprehension. As with other volumes in this series, I recommend it for its modern translations and supplementary material, enabling readers to either grasp essential information or delve into a more profound study of the comedies and their backgrounds.

In "The Birds," the narrative follows two men, Euelpides and Peisetaerus, seeking a more comfortable place to live. Discontent with the financial constraints imposed by Athenian law, they approach the outlaw Tereus, formerly human, now a bird, for guidance. Tereus extols the virtues of bird life, inspiring Peisetaerus to conceive a new city in the clouds—a city of birds. With flattery, he persuades the gathered birds to support his vision, challenging the gods' rule and asserting their own dominion. While Peisetaerus faces challenges in establishing the new city, the play unfolds with both earthly and celestial visitors disrupting his plans.
Despite its fantastical elements shared with the preceding play, "Peace," "The Birds" distinguishes itself with a grimmer tone, addressing themes of power and morality. Although not as humorous or carefree as Aristophanes' other works, it remains a compelling read, especially considering its influence on figures like Goethe, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Hitchcock.

The second play, "Lysistrata," features a heroine who combines admirable comedic traits. Lysistrata, creatively addressing the broader community's issues, takes a determined stance for peace during the Peloponnesian War. Frustrated by her man's inaction, she organizes a sex strike among women from warring cities, compelling the men to negotiate peace.
The play's accessibility to modern audiences, with its themes of sex-strikes and political satire, makes it a popular choice. "Lysistrata" requires less historical context, allowing for broader reflections on contemporary issues such as feminism and political participation. While not a personal favorite, its enduring relevance and engaging plot make it an excellent introductory play to Aristophanes.

The final comedy in this edition, "Women at the Thesmophoria," delves into misogyny within Euripides' tragedies. The play begins with Euripides trying to persuade his colleague Agathon to enter the women-exclusive festival of the Thesmophoria, to persuade the women not to kill Euripides for his unfavourable portrayals of women in his tragedies. Agathon refuses, but Euripides kinsman is willing to dress up as a woman, infiltrate their congregation and defend Euripides. His speech in favour of Euripides does not land well with the women, however, and he soon gets busted. Euripides intervenes before his kinsmen suffers any severe punishment from the women and promises to never talk badly about them again.
Whereas much of the comedy in the Lysistrate is understandable without much context, the 'Women at the Thesmophoria' is full of intertextuality. It seems to touch upon similar issues - e.g., the absurdity of the exclusion of women from the 'normal' political sphere in Athens - but does so while simultaneously offering literary criticism. This may make parts of this play less accessible to readers new to ancient drama, but at the same time a lot of fun to readers who are familiar with Euripides' tragedies. This fun comes partly from finding references in many details of the comedy, for instance that the kinsmen get dressed up as a women to infiltrate a womens congregation which mirrors the fatal dressing up of Pentheus in Euripides Bacchae. The play also prompts interesting questions about the reality of the characters. The women at the Thesmophoria are complaining about their representation in Euripides, of course as literary characters in Aristophanes. What makes the comedy such a brilliant parody of Euripides is that its underlying reflection of the reality of characters, plays and literature can already be found in Euripides and his 'Helen', where he seems to ask in what way she really exists and did the things that are said of her by Homer. Aristophanes thus seems to polemize Euripides not only on the level of content, but also on his way of thinking about the reality of plays and characters. This, to me, shows the depth and philosophical nature of his engagement with the literary tradition available to him.

[Lysistrata · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review only pertains to Lysistrata. I love it so much I stole it to be my pseudonym, but probably Aristophanes wouldn’t care about copyright infringement, no? I can’t believe that jokes from so long ago (around 2,400 years ago; written in about 410 BC) are still so relatable. I never laughed so much reading a play. And the d*** jokes are hilarious! The play is so good that if I’m ever depressed, this will be my Prozac. I commend the plot. It is genuinely ingenious. I’m forever grateful to Prof. Matthew Landauer who assigned it as a one of the readings in my Athenian Democracy class!!

[Moira]

Another Lesley present! I MIGHT have screamed out "pre-ciousssssssss" in a Gollum-esque manner when I unwrapped it. Just possibly. It's the NEW (2000) version by Henderson of whom the Bryn Mawr Classical Review said "Henderson has done a very great service in bringing both the text and the antique translations of Rogers up to date" which is -- OK, that sounds pallid, but that's the equivalent of Richard Hamilton also screeching like Gollum, trust me.

[Stamatia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved all those plays, though I don't have them in this edition. I have them in the original text. The scene with Kynisias and Myrrhine is laugh out loud funny (Lysistrata) Of course having seen them on the stage helps.

[Tasshin Fogleman]

Read the Lysistrata as a candidate for the All-College Seminar.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 stars for Birds

[Isabel Su · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cannot read magna opera of Spanish Golden Age without Aristophanes.