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Aristophanes: Lysistrata | |||
1988 • 0-941051-02-1 • paper • 86 pages • 5 ½ x 8 ½ • $9.95 One of Aristophanes' greatest comedies available with notes and introduction by one of the most important scholars and translators of Greek comedy. | About the Author | Table of Contents | Preface | Review | | |||
Description English translation. Lysistrata, the most popular of Aristophanes' plays, appeals to the modern reader because of its lively and imaginative plot, memorable heroine, good jokes, and appeal for peace and tolerance between nations and between the sexes. Includes background material on the historical and cultural context of this work, suggestions for further reading, notes, and map.
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Dr. Jeffrey Henderson is Chair and Professor of Classical Studies at Boston University. He earned his PhD at Harvard University. He is the author of groundbreaking translations and articles on Greek comic dramatists. His other translations for Focus Classical Library include Aristophanes’ Lysistrata (1988), Aristophanes’ Clouds (1993), Aristophanes’ Three Comedies: Acharnians, Lysistrata, Clouds (1997), and Aristophanes' Birds (1999). | |||
Map of Greece and Environs Introduction Aristophanes and Old Comedy Lysistrata and the Events of 411 Production General Bibliography Suggestions for Further Reading Theater of Dionysus Aristophanes' Lysistrata
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Lysistrata, first performed in 411 BC, is, of all the plays of Aristophanes, probably the most popular with modern readers and audiences. Its lively and imaginative plot, its memorable heroine, its many good jokes, its appeal for peace and tolerance between the sexes and among people and nations give it a timeless appeal. Today it is just as entertaining as theater, and just as relevant as a view of the best and the worst of Western civilization, as it was over two millennia ago. In its mirror modern men and women can catch a glimpse of where we came from, where our best ideals have aimed us, and how far we have come (or not come) thus far. This is a translation of Lysistrata into contemporary American verse, designed for both readers and performers, and presupposing no knowledge of classical Greece or classical Greek theater. I render the Greek text line by line so as to give a sense of its original scope and pace, using for the dialogue and songs verse-forms that are familiar to modern audiences. Where the original text refers to people, places, things and events whose significance modern audiences cannot reasonably be expected to comprehend, I have tried to find easily comprehensible alternatives that preserve the import of the original. The most important of these references are identified and discussed in the notes for the benefit of historically minded readers. The conventions of Aristophanic comedy included the frank portrayal and discussion of religion, politics and sex (including nudity and obscenity). In Lysistrata all three are brilliantly intertwined. I have reproduced this feature as accurately as possible within my general guideline of easy comprehensibility. To do otherwise would be to falsify the play. These three areas are of fundamental importance to any society; one of Aristophanes’ chief aims was to make humor of them while at the same time encouraging his audience to think about them in ways discouraged, or even forbidden, outside the comic theater. For those made uncomfortable by such a portrayal of one or more of these three areas of life, Lysistrata provides an opportunity to ask themselves why. The Introduction contains sections on Aristophanes and the genre of Attic Old Comedy which his plays represent; Lysistrata and the historical situation to which it was originally addressed; conventions of ancient production with suggestions for modern performers; and suggestions for further reading. Like the translation and notes, the Introduction requires no previous expertise, and so is suitable for readers and students making their first acquaintance with Aristophanes. The translation is based on my own edition of the Greek text, with Introduction and Commentary (Clarendon Press: Oxford 1987).
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Henderson's Lysistrata is lively, cheerfully vulgar, and genuinely funny… -- Philip Holt, The Classical Outlook
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Aristophanes: Lysistrata
