Aristophanes was the greatest comic playwright of Ancient Greece. Along with Aeschylus and Euripides, he is regarded as a great Ancient Greek dramatist. His comedies are said to be the earliest roots of the film, television and theatre comedies we are enjoying today. He is said to have written 40 plays, 11 of which have survived.
Early Life of Aristophanes
Like Aeschylus who came before him, very little is known about the life of Aristophanes (c.450 BC – c.385 BC). He was born in Athens and started writing before he was 20 years old.
Aristophanes lived through a period of great political and social upheavals. For almost twenty seven years, the state city of Athens fought a bitter war against the city of Sparta, its archrival. The eventual defeat of Athens brought to an end the greatest period of ancient Greek civilization. It was followed by a time of political instability during which Athens was ruled by dictators and corrupt governments.
Aristophanes - Satirist of them All
Many of Aristophanes' plays are satires. He wrote plays about the changes he saw going on around him. Aristophanes criticized political leaders by making them seem ridiculous, often the leaders were out-witted by the hero of the play, usually portrayed as an ordinary citizen.
Aristophanes made fun of intellectuals like philosophers, teachers and lawyers, whom he felt corrupted society. Nobody was safe from his biting words, as he made them look foolish, including the most famous and respected personalities of the time. For this, he was criticized for an apparent motivation by personal grudges rather than ideas.
He criticized the great tragic playwrights especially Euripides who he dressed as a woman in his Ladies' Day. In another play, Socrates, the great Greek philosopher and teacher was portrayed as a madman who has an evil influence on the young people of Athens. He also ridiculed the philosophies of Plato, and managed to ridicule Aeschylus in Frogs.
A Quote From Acharnians
"Do not begrudge me in the audience if I, though poor, tell the Athenians about the state, making a comedy. The thing is, comedies know what is true, and what I have to say is weird but true."
To read more Aristophanes Quotes, visit ThinkExist.
Works by Aristophanes
- The Acharnians, 425 BC
- The Knights, 424 BC
- The Clouds, 423 BC
- The Wasps, 422 BC
- The Peace, 421 BC
- The Birds, 414 BC
- Lysistrata, 411 BC
- Thesmophoriazusae, 411 BC
- The Frogs, 405 BC
- Ladies' Day, 392 BC
- Plutus, 388 BC
- Wealth, 388 BC
Sources:
- Goring, Rosemary, Ed. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994.
- McGovern, Una, Ed. Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers / Harrap Publishers, 2002.
- Payne, Tom. The A-Z of Great Writers. London: Carlton, 1997.
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