Overview

This accessible introduction to the work of one of the world's greatest comic writers tackles key questions posed by Aristophanes' plays, such as staging, humour, songs, obscene language, politics and the modern translation and performance of Aristophanic comedy. The book opens up exciting and contentious areas of Aristophanic scholarship in a way that is engaging and readily comprehensible to a non-specialist audience, never losing sight of the fact that Aristophanes' plays are vibrant literary texts, designed primarily to appeal to a classical Athenian audience as pieces of living drama. Key to the book's appeal is that James Robson conceives of the plays as dynamic texts, containing a treasure trove of information not only about how they might have been performed and received in classical Athens, but also how they might be read and understood today. Most importantly, readers are given the tools and information to make their own minds up about the debates that still rage about Aristophanic comedy in the modern world.

Full Product Details

9780715634523

Table of Contents

Reviews

... enters a market already occupiedby earlier books with the same goal... but inmany ways this book may be the best of the group in exposing students to abalanced treatment of the critical issues that have come to dominate the studyof this author over the last three decades.IJCT

Author Information

James Robson is Senior Lecturer in Classical Studies at the Open University, and the author of ""Humour, Obscenity and Aristophanes"" (2006).

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