The Knights Of Aristophanes

In the first play he produced on his own behalf, Aristophanes launched a violent attack on Cleon, the leading politician of the day, on the whole style of leadership that he represented and on a system which seemed to guarantee that a bad leader could be displaced by a worse. Text with facing translation, commentary and notes.

If the American Editor of this little volume (which is sent forth as a test of the character of American learning) deemed it either expedient or necessary to expatiate upon the merits of an author so celebrated and gifted as A ristophanes, he might extend his eulogia beyond the patient perusal of the moderns. The eloquent and erudite preliminary discourse by the accomplished translator, however, anticipates the remarks which otherwise would be expanded. No satirist, ancient or modern, ever enjoyed the deserved reputation of A ristophanes, and no one ever depicted, in colors so vivid and unfading, the essential and peculiar characteristics of democracy. As he lived under the dominion of the Universal People, he thoroughly understood the qualities of the democrats whom he has ridiculed and immortalized; and he never shrunk, when occasion demanded, from the exposure of flagrant abuses. Therefore, we commend, earnestly commend the perusal of this volume to our literary countrymen: and if the reception of this limited edition of a single comedy shall justify the editor in the more enlarged republication of all the works of A ristophanes, he will rejoice in the opportunity, thus afforded, of instructing and enlightening his countrymen.

A disruptive comedy by a disruptive playwright

Originally published in 1901, this book contains the original Greek text of the Aristophanic comedy The Knights. Neil provides running commentary on the play, as well as several appendices, including an examination of the origins and role of the Greek particle γε, which is often glossed over by scholars and translators. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in ancient Greek theatre or ancient satire.

The play is a satire on the social and political life of classical Athens during the Peloponnesian War and in this respect it is typical of all the dramatist's early plays. It is unique however in the relatively small number of its characters and this was due to its scurrilous preoccupation with one man, the pro-war populist Cleon.