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Definition: Aristophanes from Philip's Encyclopedia

Greek writer of comedies. Of his more than 40 plays, only 11 survive, the only extant comedies from the period. All follow the same basic plan: caricatures of contemporary Athenians in absurd situations. Graceful, choral lyrics frame caustic personal attacks. A conservative, Aristophanes parodied Euripides' innovations in drama, and satirized the philosophical radicalism of Socrates and Athens' expansionist policies. The importance of the chorus in the early works is reflected in titles such as The Wasps (422 BC), The Birds (414 BC), and The Frogs (405 BC). Other notable plays include The Clouds (423 BC) and Lysistrata (411 BC).

Aristophanes

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(ăr´´ĭstŏf'Әnēz), c.448 B.C. –c.388 B.C. , Greek playwright, Athenian comic poet, greatest of the ancient writers of comedy . His plays, the only full extant samples of the Greek Old Comedy, mix political, social, and literary satire. The direct attack on persons, the severity of invective, and the burlesque extravagances made the plays fitting for the festival of Dionysus. Aristophanes was conservative in all things, hence he distrusted sophistry and Socrates alike, satirized Euripides' art as degenerate, and deplored the tendency to excessive imperialism that ruined Athens in the Syracusan expedition. The typical plan of an Aristophanic comedy is simple—the protagonist undertakes seriously some preposterous project, and the play is an elaboration of his success or failure. Despite the absurdity of the situation, Aristophanes' characters are real as types; their verisimilitude comes from their perfectly natural behavior in unnatural circumstances. Aristophanes' Greek is exceptionally…
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Full text Article Aristophanes

From Philip's Encyclopedia
Greek writer of comedies. Of his more than 40 plays, only 11 survive, the only extant comedies from the period. All follow the same basic plan: caricatures of contemporary Athenians in absurd situations. Graceful, choral lyrics frame caustic personal attacks. A conservative, Aristophanes parodied…
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Full text Article Aristophanes

From The Classical Tradition
Greek comic dramatist (d. ca. 386 bce ). His 11 surviving plays are the only extant examples of Athenian Old Comedy. The genre was becoming obsolete in his own lifetime, and there seem to have been few performances of his plays in antiquity after his death. By the end of the 4th century bce Old…
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Full text Article Aristophanes

From Encyclopedia of Ancient Literature
(b. ca. 450 BCE –d. ca. 388 BCE ) Greek dramatist The most celebrated playwright of the Greek Old Comedy , Aristophanes was born in Athens but moved with his mother and his father Philippos to the island of Aegina during his childhood. By 427 BCE , however, he was back in Athens pursuing the…
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Full text Article Aristophanes

From Chambers Biographical Dictionary
c.448-c.385 BC Greek comic dramatist Aristophanes wrote some 50 plays, but only eleven are extant. The best known of his earlier works, in which the satire is largely political, are Hippeis (424 BC , "Knights"), Nephelai (423 BC , "Clouds") and Sphekes (422 BC , "Wasps") (named from their respective…
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Full text Article Aristophanes

From The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization
the greatest poet of the Old Attic Comedy ( see comedy (greek), old ), was a native of *Athens and a member of the Athenian deme (local district) Kydathenaion. He was the son of Philippus and he himself had at least two sons, of whom at least one (Araros) and possibly both were themselves composers…
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Full text Article Aristophanes

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(ăr´´ĭstŏf'Әnēz), c.448 B.C. –c.388 B.C. , Greek playwright, Athenian comic poet, greatest of the ancient writers of comedy . His plays, the only full extant samples of the Greek Old Comedy, mix political, social, and literary satire. The direct attack on persons, the severity of invective, and the…
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Full text Article Aristophanes (playwright)

From Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World
(b. ca. 450–d. ca. 388 BCE ) Greek comic playwright In antiquity, Aristophanes was recognized as the greatest classical Athenian writer of comedy. Eleven of his 30 or so plays have survived in their entirety. These 11 plays supply our only complete examples of fifth-century- BCE Athenian “Old…
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(b. ca. 450–d. ca. 388 BCE ) Greek comic playwright Aristophanes was a leading dramatist of ancient Athens and, owing to the quantity and quality of his works that have been preserved, is customarily recognized as being the leading comic playwright of his society and age. Greek comic drama passed…
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Full text Article ARISTOPHANES

From A Dictionary of Classical Greek Quotations
с450-385вє Athenian Old Attic Comedy poet see also Cratinus 4; Lucian 10; Plato 306-311, 379 1 άποβλέπων είς τόν άγρόν, είρήνης έρών, στυγών μεν άστυ, τόν δ’ έμόν δημον ποθών, ος ούδεπώποτ’ είπεν, άνθρακας πρίω, ούκ οξος, ούκ έλαιον I think of my fields, yearn for peace, curse city life and long for…
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Full text Article Aristophanes

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
(born c. 450—died c. 388 bc ) Greek playwright. An Athenian, he began his career as a comic dramatist in 427. He wrote approximately 40 plays, of which 11 survive, including The Clouds (423), The Wasps (422), The Birds (414), Lysistrata (411), and The Frogs (405). Most of the plays typify the Old…
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