Aristophanes: Frogs / Edition 1

by Aristophanes, W.B. Stanford

Overview

Aristophanes' sophisticated comedy on the style and role of the plays of the modern Euripides vis a vis the traditional Aeschylus, contains his most brilliant parodies. These are asset in the fantastic and farcical context of Dionysus, disguised as Herakles, with his memorably cheeky slave Xanthias, descending into Hades to resurrect Euripides but returning instead with Aeschylus.

Stanford's edition of Frogs includes introduction, Greek text and commentary. It contains a substantial introduction on the play's background, and interpretation. The commentary is detailed on matters of language, metre and content, and a bibliography of further reading is provided.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780862921156
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/01/1991
Series:	Greek Texts
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	271
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.57(d)

About the Author

Aristophanes (c. 446-386 BC) was Athens's greatest comic playwright, whose plays define the genre of Old Comedy. His was a precise, poetic vision articulated in pin-sharp images, his works being some of the most revealing about the society for which he wrote. Although only eleven of the some forty plays he wrote survive, his unique blend of slapstick, fantasy, bawdy and political satire provide us with a vivid picture of the ancient Athenians - their social mores, their beliefs and their exuberant sense of occasion.

W.B. Stanford was Regius Professor of Greek at Trinity College, Dublin and served as the twenty-second Chancellor of the University. He is perhaps best remembered for his commentaries aimed at students on Homer's Odyssey, Aristophanes' Frogs, and Sophocles' Ajax.

Table of Contents

PREFACE
INTRODUCTION : § 1 The first production. § 2 The
Lenaean Festival. § 3 The audience. § 4 The historical background. § 5 The political background. § 6 The religious background.
§ 7 The action of the play and the literary contest. § 8 The characters and chorus.
§ 9 Theatre, masks, costumes. § 10 The comic technique of Aristophanes. § 11 The language of Aristophanes. § 12 .Metre, music, delivery,
dancing. § 13 The formal structure of an
Aristophanic comedy. § 14 The transmission of the text. § 15 Aristophanes's influence and reputation
LisT OF CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY
TEXT
NOTES
INDEX TO INTRODUCTION AND NOTES
LIST OF BOOKS AND ARTICLES

Editorial Reviews

"Peter Meineck draws on his vast experience as both theatre producer and classical scholar in this lively and thoroughly contemporary translation of Aristophanes's rambunctious but heady Frogs. In highlighting Aristophanes's own concern for spectacle, stage action, and musicality, Meineck offers flexible guidance not only for modern producers of this comedy but also for readers eager to visualize an Aristophanic play in its original setting and to marvel at its enduring comic brilliance."
—Ralph M. Rosen, Vartan Gregorian Professor of the Humanities and Classical Studies, University of Pennsylvania

"Meineck's edition of Frogs is a fantastic resource for students, teachers, and anyone interested in ancient theatre. His Introduction skillfully condenses an impressive amount of information about ancient history, myth, and theatre, contextualizing the play in a clear and accessible manner. His crisp and modern translation imaginatively brings the text and music of Aristophanes to life for today’s audiences."
—Rosa Andújar, Deputy Director of Liberal Arts and Lecturer in Liberal Arts, King’s College London

"Peter Meineck’s new translation of Aristophanes' Frogs offers expert and funny solutions to [the many challenges of translating this play], and he shines most brightly when it comes to the comic playwright’s particularly hard-to-tackle choral odes and monody, as he rewrites Aristophanes' lyrics to tunes by AC/DC, Wu-Tang Clan, and Bruce Springsteen. While reading Meineck's latest translation, I had YouTube open the entire time, tapping my feet to 'Thunder Struck,' 'Triumph,' and 'The Rising.' . . . Meineck's primary objective, as always, is creating a translation that can be performed (he is founder of Aquila, a theater company that is known for original music, among other things), and his most recent offering, with its attention to music, stands out from other translations of Frogs, because Meineck represents the different musical styles of Aeschylus and Euripides in creative and modern ways. . . . Meineck's Frogs provoked such a rousing discussion in my grad-level class that I look forward to assigning it in my undergraduate classes as well. So, grab a copy of Meineck's Frogs, open YouTube, and soon you will be humming Europe's 'The Final Countdown,' but with a slight twist, after Meineck, as 'the final smackdown'."
—Laurialan Reitzammer, University of Colorado at Boulder, in Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"[T]he introduction contains all a student or teacher would need to fully understand the play. Firstly, the reader is provided with a clear and concise historical and cultural background to the play spread over 15 pages. This also includes sub-divided information on all the conventions of Old Comedy including festivals, the theatre building, masks, costumes, props, music and staging. Secondly, Meineck provides the reader with a 36-page character information list. . . . I found this to be a really useful resource for students of all abilities in my classes. . . . For those . . . who would like to start their exploration into Greek comedy, or for those more seasoned readers looking for an interesting take on the work of Aristophanes, this is a worthwhile read."
—Ben Greenley, in Journal of Classics Teaching

From the Publisher