Irlandos at 13:05, March 21, 2006

2006-03-21T13:05:24Z

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'''Aristophanes''' (c. [[448 BC]]-[[380 BC]]; [[Greek language|Greek]] Αριστοφάνης) was a [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] comic dramatist.

The place and even exact date of his birth are unknown, but he was probably educated in [[Athens]]. He was from the Athenian deme of Kudathenaium. He is famous for writing comedies such as ''[[The Birds (play)|The Birds]]'' for the two Athenian festivals: the [[Dionysia]] and the [[Lenea]]. He wrote forty plays, eleven of which still survive, and his plays are the only surviving examples of [[Old Attic Comedy]]. Many of his plays were political, and often satirized the well-known citizens of Athens and their conduct in the [[Peloponnesian War]]. He is known to have been prosecuted for Athenian law's equivalent of libel more than once. A famous comedy, ''[[The Frogs]]'', was given the unprecedented honor of a second performance. According to a later biographer, he was also awarded a civic crown for "[[The Frogs]]".

He appears in [[Plato]]'s ''[[Symposium (Plato)|Symposium]]'', giving a humorous mythical account of the origin of Love. ''[[The Clouds]],'' a disastrous production resulting in a humiliating and long-remembered (cf. the revised parabasis of "[[The Clouds]]" and the parabasis of next year's "[[The Wasps]]") last place finish at the City Dionysia, satirizes the new, sophistic learning en vogue among the aristocracy at the time; [[Socrates]] was the principal target and in the play he emerges as a typical [[Sophist]], no matter how inaccurate the portrayal may be. ''[[Lysistrata]]'' was written during the [[Peloponnesian War]] between [[Athens]] and [[Sparta]] and presents a pacifist theme in a comical manner: the women of the two states show off their bodies and deprive their husbands of sex until they stop fighting.

==Surviving plays==
* ''[[The Acharnians]]'' ([[425 BC]])
* ''[[The Knights]]'' ([[424 BC]])
* ''[[The Clouds]]'' (Original [[423 BC]]Uncompleted revised version survives [[418-415 BC]])
* ''[[The Wasps]]'' ([[422 BC]])
* ''[[Peace (play)|Peace]]'' (first version, [[421 BC]])
* ''[[The Birds (play)|The Birds]]'' ([[414 BC]])
* ''[[Lysistrata]]'' ([[411 BC]])
* ''[[Thesmophoriazusae]]'' ("The Festival Women", first version, ca.[[410 BC]])
* ''[[The Frogs]]'' ([[405 BC]])
* ''[[Assemblywomen|Ecclesiazousae]]'' ("The Assemblywomen", ca.[[392 BC]])
* ''[[Plutus (play)|Plutus]]'' ("Wealth", second version, [[388 BC]])

==Dated non-surviving plays==
* ''Banqueters'' ([[427 BC]])
* ''Babylonians'' ([[426 BC]])
* ''Farmers'' ([[424 BC]])
* ''Merchant Ships'' ([[423 BC]])
* ''[[The Clouds]]'' (first version) ([[423 BC]])
* ''Proagon'' ([[422 BC]])
* ''Amphiaraos'' ([[414 BC]])
* ''[[Plutus (play)|Plutus]]'' ("Wealth", first version, [[408 BC]])
* ''Gerytades'' (uncertain, probably [[407 BC]])
* ''Koskalos'' ([[387 BC]])
* ''Aiolosikon'' (second version, [[386 BC]])

==Undated non-surviving plays==
* ''Aiolosikon'' (first version)
* ''Anagyros''
* ''Broilers''
* ''Daidalos''
* ''Danaids''
* ''Dionysos Shipwrecked''
* ''Centaur''
* ''Niobos''
* ''Heroes''
* ''Islands''
* ''Lemnian Women''
* ''Old Age''
* ''Peace'' (second version)
* ''Phoenician Women''
* ''Poetry''
* ''Polyidos''
* ''Seasons''
* ''Storks''
* ''Telemessians''
* ''Triphales''
* ''[[Thesmophoriazusae]]'' ("The Festival Women", second version)
* ''Women Encamping''

==See also==
*[[Agathon]]

==External links==

*[http://www.greektexts.com/library/Aristophanes/index.html Aristophanes Texts] Biography and texts of Aristophanes
*[http://www.textkit.com/view-author/author_id/8/ The texts of Aristophanes' plays (in translation)]

* [http://wiktionary.org/wiki/Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhypotrimmatosilphioparaomelitokatakechymenokichlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptekephalliokigklopeleiolagoiosiraiobaphetraganopterygon Contribution to the English Language]

{{Credit wikipedia}}

[[Category:448 BC births]]
[[Category:380 BC deaths]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Ancient Athenians]]
[[Category:Satirists|Aristophanes]]

Aristophanes - Revision history

Irlandos at 13:05, March 21, 2006