{"product_id":"birds-and-other-plays","title":"Birds and Other Plays","description":"\u003cp\u003eOffering a window into the world of ordinary Athenians, Aristophanes' \u003ci\u003eThe Birds and Other Plays \u003c\/i\u003eis a timeless set of comedies, combining witty satire and raucous slapstick to wonderful effect. This Penguin Classics edition is translated from the Greek by David Barrett and Alan H. Sommerstein.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe plays in this volume all contain Aristophanes' trademark bawdy comedy and dazzling verbal agility. In \u003ci\u003eThe Birds\u003c\/i\u003e, two cunning Athenians persuade the birds to build the utopian city of 'Much Cuckoo in the Clouds' in the sky, blockading the Olympian gods and installing themselves as new deities. \u003ci\u003eThe Knights\u003c\/i\u003e is a venomous satire on Cleon, a prominent Athenian demagogue, who vies with a humble sausage-seller for the approval of the people; while \u003ci\u003eThe Assembly-Women \u003c\/i\u003edeals with the battle of the sexes as the women of Athens infiltrate the all-male Assembly in disguise. The lengthy conflict with Sparta is the subject of \u003ci\u003ePeace\u003c\/i\u003e, inspired by the hope of a settlement in 421 BC, and \u003ci\u003eWealth \u003c\/i\u003ereflects on the economic catastrophe that hit Athens after the war.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese lively translations by David Barrett and Alan H. Sommerstein capture the full humour of the plays. The introduction examines Aristophanes' life and times, and the comedy and poetry of his works. This volume also includes an introductory note for each play.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAristophanes (c.445-386 BC) was probably born in Athens. Little is known about his life, but there is a portrait of him in Plato's\u003ci\u003e Symposium\u003c\/i\u003e. He was twice threatened with prosecution in the 420s for his outspoken attacks on the prominent politician Cleon, but in 405 he was publicly honoured and crowned for promoting Athenian civic unity in \u003ci\u003eThe Frogs\u003c\/i\u003e. Aristophanes had his first comedy produced when he was about twenty-one, and wrote forty plays in all. The eleven surviving plays of Aristophanes are published in the Penguin Classics series as \u003ci\u003eThe Birds and Other Plays\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLysistrata and Other Plays\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Wasps and Other Plays \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Frogs and Other Plays\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf you enjoyed \u003ci\u003eThe Birds and Other Plays,\u003c\/i\u003e you might like Aristophanes' \u003ci\u003eThe Frogs and Other Plays\u003c\/i\u003e, also available in Penguin Classics.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54227531956568,"sku":"9780140449518","price":18.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9780140449518_55fa9110-ea39-4ca1-a680-7231cdd4677b.jpg?v=1777109420","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/birds-and-other-plays","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}