Aristophanes and His Theatre of the Absurd

by Paul Cartledge

Aristophanes, the Athenian comic dramatist, remains popular despite historical changes in attitude and belief. Placing the plays in their total civic, religious and dramatic context, this account explores their significance for contemporary audiences, and their continuing appeal. Separate chapters address aspects of his work and world, and attempt to outline the playwright's own opinions at a time of intense political debate. With original texts quoted in translation, this comprehensive and lively study provides students with an invaluable insight into the plays and their place in classical Athens.

Genres: Classics, History

127 pages, Paperback

First published August 6, 1989

About the author

Paul Anthony Cartledge is the 1st A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at Cambridge University, having previously held a personal chair in Greek History at Cambridge. He was educated at St Paul's School & New College, Oxford where he took his 1st degree & completed his doctoral thesis in Spartan archaeology in 1975 under Prof. Sir John Boardman. After a period at the University of Warwick he moved in 10/79 to Cambridge University where he's a fellow of Clare College.
He's a world expert on Athens & Sparta in the Classical Age & has been described as a Laconophile. He was chief historical consultant for the BBC TV series The Greeks & the Channel 4 series The Spartans, presented by Bettany Hughes. He's also a holder of the Gold Cross of the Order of Honour & an Honorary Citizen of modern Sparta. Besides the Leventis Professorship, he holds a visiting Global Distinguished Professorship at New York University, funded by the Greek Parliament.

Reviews

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to Aristophanes. Cartledge is clear, concise, witty, and makes explicit connections between the politco-cultural context of late 5th century BCE Athens and Aristophanes' comic concerns. It's a very brief and readable tract, written for students taking higher level Classics exams, but definitely of use to anyone trying to understand Aristophanes.

Cartledge's approach to the subject has several major benefits. One is that it is clearly organized by theme--theatre conditions in 5th century BCE Athens, philosophy, women, politics, etc.--which makes it quite easy to navigate through the book for readers with a particular topical concern. Another benefit is that because the book is written to aid students in an exam, Cartledge introduces a lot of ambiguity where there are scholarly debates. So, for instance, there is a lot of disagreement over how seriously Aristophanes' political statements should be taken, and while Cartledge has and presents his own opinion, he also presents some counterpoints and tells readers where there is scholarly disagreement.

My one particular quibble is with the title, because Theatre of the Absurd is an actual theorized theatrical genre and Cartledge doesn't really engage with Absurdism. He deals with the absurd in the sense of the incongruous or the zany--think Monty Python--but not in the existential sense that the phrase Theatre of the Absurd typically refers to (writers like Beckett, Pinter, Ionesco, etc.). So the title is a bit misleading for theatre scholars who would know Theatre of the Absurd as a distinct stylistic approach.

[Wendelle]

a variety of topics, including the roles of Dionysus, the status of women, and the economy of Ancient Greece, mini-explained through the lens of Aristophanes' work