Author Description

Unique Elements Author Biography About Three Plays “O women, if we would compel the men To bow to Peace, We must refrain from every depth of love....” Three Plays brings together three satirical dramas by Ancient Greek playwright and poet Aristophanes, first performed in classical Athens in 411-425 BC. Aristophanes was an eloquent and humorously irreverent opponent of the demagogue and the sophist, writing against the backdrop of political and social upheaval in Athens. This collection features English translations by William James Hickie and Jack Lindsay. Lysistrata is a comic drama about efforts by the women of the fighting cities to end the Peloponnesian War by denying the men any sex, simultaneously inflaming the battle between the sexes. Darker comedy The Clouds satirizes Athenian philosophers including Socrates, while The Acharnians tells the tale of Athenian citizen Dikaiopolis who seeks a peace treaty with the Spartans to end the long-running war between the two city states.