Aristophanes is not the most profound or exalted of Greek poets, but he is the most creative. Others deal with the world as it is, glorifying it, perhaps,, or justifying its flaws, discovering hidden values in it and suggesting how they may be realized; Aristophanes erases the world that is and comtructs another. The tragedies we have are all based on traditlonal myths which the playwights might interpret and embellish-- provided the embellishment were appropriate and probable-but they COUld not signifieantly alter the ancient "story." Aristophanes abolishes history, and all ordinary constraints of space and time,of gravity and physiology.If war has become tiresome he makes a private treaty with the enemy or goes to heaven to fetch down the goddess Peace. If Athens has become tiresome he builds a new city in the sky.If riving poets are inadequate he goes to hell to feteh back an old one.

……

Extravagant power of invention and remarkable comic vitality make Aristophanes one of the most brilliant of the ancient Greek playwrights. From the hilariously bawdy yet fundamentally serious play LYSISTRATA, to the creative fantasy of the BIRDS, to his comic masterpiece the FROGS, AristoDhanes displays the biting satire, exquisite lyricism, and licentious frankness that continue to make audiences laugh at the immensitv of their own follies.

A poet who hated an age of decadence, armed conflict, and departure from tradition, Aristophanes" comic genius influenced the political and social order of his own fifth-century Athens. But as Moses Hadas writes in his introduction to this volume, "His true claim upon our attention is as the most brilliant and artistic and thouahtful wit our world has known"

Introduction

ACHARNIANS

KNICITS

CLOUDS

WASPS

PEACE

BIRDS

LYSISTRATA

THESMOPHORIAZUSAE

FROGS

ECCLESEAZUSAE

PLUTUS