Aristophanes' Political Comedy
The course studies Athenian politics and culture in the later fifth century BC as represented in the comedies of Aristophanes. Its subject is Old Comedy as a distorting mirror of the major events and currents of the day – the new-style politicians (Cleon and others), the new intellectuals (the 'sophists'), strains in traditional religion, the roles of women, the Peloponnesian War, and social conflict in the city and countryside. The plays prescribed for study in translation are Knights, Wasps and Lysistrata. Compulsory passages for comment will be set from Wasps and Lysistrata. Candidates will also be expected to be familiar with Knights and the 'Old Oligarch' writing on the 'Athenian Constitution'. (Convenor: L. Kallet, Univ).
Translation: Knights, Lysistrata, Wasps: A.H Sommerstein, Aris and Phillips. The ‘Old Oligarch’: J. L. Marr, P. J. Rhodes (trans.), The 'Old Oligarch': The Constitution of the Athenians Attributed to Xenophon. Aris & Phillips Classical Texts. Oxford: Aris & Phillips, 2008.
Not all courses and papers are available in every year. The authoritative information about courses and papers can be found in the University's Examination Decrees and Regulations, published with changes each October; the version published in the October a student begins a course will be authoritative for the examinations which that student takes at the end of the course.
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Last updated:
November 10, 2008.
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