Peace

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About this book

A farmer's effort to question Zeus about Greece's troubles begins with two servants preparing food for an enormous beetle. Trygaeus plans to ride the creature into the sky, while his daughters press him to explain his departure. The combination of household worries, an improbable flying mount and appeals to the gods gives this Greek comedy a deliberately earthy approach to the costs of war.

Later dialogue brings the personified Peace into conversation with Hermes and Trygaeus. Through jokes about public speakers, rejected truces and poets seeking payment, Aristophanes connects the wish for peace with the choices made in civic life. The English translation includes explanatory footnotes for names, puns and customs. Readers interested in ancient theatre will find a play that makes political argument through fantasy, direct address to the audience and sharp comic exchanges.

About the author

Aristophanes

Aristophanes was an Ancient Greek comic playwright from Athens. He wrote forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete. The majority of his surviving plays belong to the genre of comic drama known as Old Comedy and are considered its most valuable examples.