This accessible introduction to the work of one of the world's greatest comic writers tackles key questions posed by Aristophanes' plays, such as staging, humour, songs, obscene language, politics and the modern translation and performance of Aristophanic comedy. The book opens up exciting and contentious areas of Aristophanic scholarship in a way that is engaging and readily comprehensible to a non-specialist audience, never losing sight of the fact that Aristophanes' plays are vibrant literary texts, designed primarily to appeal to a classical Athenian audience as pieces of living drama. Key to the book's appeal is that James Robson conceives of the plays as dynamic texts, containing a treasure trove of information not only about how they might have been performed and received in classical Athens, but also how they might be read and understood today. Most importantly, readers are given the tools and information to make their own minds up about the debates that still rage about Aristophanic comedy in the modern world.

List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Preface Note on Greek Names and Words 1. Aristophanes and Old Comedy 2. Putting on a Show 3. Setting the Scene: Theatre Space and Costumes 4. Aristophanes the Humorist5. The People of Aristophanes 6. Tragic Fragments 7. Taking Dirty: Aristophanic Obscenity 8. Waxing Lyrical: Aristophanes the Songwriter 9. Getting the Message: Aristophanic Politics 10. Aristophanes in the Modern World: Translation and Performance Notes Bibliography and Abbreviations Index of Principal Passages Cited General Index