Aristophanes son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic
playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his 40 plays survive
virtually complete. These, together with fragments of some of his
other plays, provide the only real examples of a genre of comic
drama known as Old Comedy, and they are used to define the genre.
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 contributing to the trial and execution of Socrates
although other satirical playwrights had also caricatured the
philosopher. His second play, The Babylonians (now lost), was
denounced by the demagogue 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 the Chorus in that play, "the author-director of
comedies has the hardest job of all." -wikipedia
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!