Aristophanes – The Birds / The Frogs – Easton Press – 1979 100 Greatest Books Ever Written Series Aristophanes (c. 448–380 BC) is the only comic playwright of ancient Athens whose work has survived in substantial form. Of the forty or so plays attributed to him, eleven remain complete, and they constitute the sole primary record of Attic Old Comedy — a form that combined elaborate verse, choral performance, mythological burlesque, and direct political satire in ways that were specific to the democratic culture of fifth-century Athens. He was a citizen of that city at the height of its power, and his plays engaged directly with its wars, its demagogues, its philosophers, and its tragedians. The Birds, first performed at Athens in 414 BC during the Peloponnesian War, follows two Athenian citizens who persuade the birds to found a new city between earth and heaven, thereby cutting off the gods from the smoke of sacrifice. It is Aristophanes' most expansive fantasy, and among the most formally inventive works in the comic tradition. The translation used in this edition was extensively revised by Dudley Fitts, who also provides the introduction. The illustrations, drawn in a style evoking ancient Greek vase painting, are by Marian Parry. The Frogs, performed in 405 BC shortly after the deaths of both Sophocles and Euripides, follows the god Dionysus into the underworld to bring back a great tragic poet. The play stages a literary contest between Aeschylus and Euripides, with Dionysus as judge. The translation is by William James Hickie, with an introduction by Gilbert Seldes. The wood-engravings are by John Austen, whose bold figurative style is well suited to the play's mythological setting. - Full genuine leather binding in dark green - Front cover with all-over gold-stamped design of birds in flight within a single border frame - Spine with raised bands, gold-stamped bird motifs, and gold lettering - Gilt page edges - Silk ribbon marker - Frontispiece portrait of Aristophanes, specially commissioned for this edition - Printed and bound in the United States of America Condition is Fine. Ships from Germany. Carefully packed in cardboard book mailer with protective wrapping.