Aristophanes Clouds (Clarendon Paperbacks) - Couverture souple

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0198143958 ISBN 13 : 9780198143956

Editeur : Oxford University Press, USA, 1989

Synopsis

Book by Aristophanes

A propos du livre

Biographie de l'auteur

Aristophanes (ca. 446-ca. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a prolific and much acclaimed comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty 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 in fact 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 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. "In my opinion," he says through the Chorus in that play, "the author-director of comedies has the hardest job of all." He is also known for some famous sayings, such as "By words the mind is winged."

Présentation de l'éditeur

During the second half of the fifth century BC, oratory was an essential skill for a successful politician. This art of persuasive speaking was one of several subjects which sophists, lesser philosophers (with whom Socrates was often identified), offered at a price. Aristophanes' Clouds, performed in its original version in 423 BC, is a witty and merciless satire at the expense of Socrates, which ridicules features ascribed by the man in the street to Socrates and sophistic teaching. Dover's standard edition of the Clouds is now made available in paperback. In punctuating the text and writing the commentary, he has endeavoured to act as a modern 'producer' of the play, in order to bring across the full effect of the drama to the reader. The full introduction, which covers all aspects of Aristophanes' play, from the playwright himself to the manuscript tradition of the text, is followed by Dover's text and apparatus criticus. This is supplemented by a detailed and lively commentary, addenda, and indexes.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Oxford University Press, USA
• Date d'édition: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0198143958
• ISBN 13: 9780198143956
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 416