Four Plays by Aristophanes: The Birds; The Clouds; The Frogs; Lysistrata (Meridian Classics)

A friend and I have a weekly discussion of the ancient classics. This is our volume for Aristophanes. It's a good selection, with clear type & layout, and informative introductions & footnotes for each play. I became aware that, like Homer, the translation of Aristophanes is open to a range of interpretations. It's useful, then, to see these as versions of the plays but not necessarily exactly THE plays themselves. One day I may find other translations to see how they differ. Still, I enjoyed this book a lot and it's an excellent place to start.

I enjoyed this book.

This book is physically constructed like a student edition -- i.e., cheaply. The paper is cheap and thick, the ink thick and sometimes blotchy, with that great newspaper smell. If you're looking for a lovely edition of Aristophanes to sit on the mantle with your nice books, this is not.The text is also organized like a student edition. The translations are great, lively, readable and fun. Each of the four plays is followed by a commentary, with textual and contextual explanation (pointing out Greek jokes that couldn't be translated, explaining Athenian politics, etc.). The back of the book is a glossary of names, places and institutions. The aids are clear and very helpful, especially for first time readers.

This book corresponds its description: No tears and no writing.

William Arrowsmith is a very poor translator. He makes Hercules speak in hillbilly dialect, complete with misspelled words so we "get it."Also, the printing is terrible. None of the periods showed up in my version. That's right -- you can't see periods. Most of the other punctuation marks are smudged, and commas are missing their tail so they look like periods. Only a publisher of classics could get away with this kind of shoddy workmanship.

As advertised

A fantastic book for those who enjoy Greek dramas. It is translated very well, and it is a nice compilation.

Packaged nicely. Have read it twice. pgs

Good collection of plays. Great edition. Good selection of texts. 6th form production of Lysistrata to follow! ...or the frogs

Showed up on time and as described, but there was a really bad dent in the cover :(

The quality of the printing is quite poor (letters missing or half printed).