[Aristophanes] Tucker, T. G.

The Frogs of Aristophanes. Edited with introduction, commentary and critical notes by T. G. Tucker.

London, Macmillan, 1906. 10 x 16.5 cm. LIX, 276 pages. Original hardcover. Good condition but with signs of external wear. From the reference library of Hans Christian Andersen – Translator Erik Haugaard. With annotations and markings. Classical Series.

Aristophanes (c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion (Latin: Cydathenaeum), was a 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 are used to define it.
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 that contributed to the trial and subsequent condemning to death of Socrates, although other satirical playwrights had also caricatured the philosopher.
Aristophanes’ 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 that play’s Chorus, “the author-director of comedies has the hardest job of all.” (Wikipedia)

• Keywords: Erik Haugaard Collection
• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 44788AB

EUR 60,--