TEXTBOOK

BL Covers every play, with extensive quotations in English Aristophanes' comedies are famous for their comic characters and earthy humour, but they are also highly topical, with many contemporary political allusions easily missed today. Douglas MacDowell provides students with a long needed accessible and essential introductory guide to the plays, focusing particularly on information about the Athens of the day.

"Douglas M. MacDowell ... is eminently qualified to write this book. No background knowledge is assumed; the context of the plays is succinctly and accurately summarized ... MacDowell's refreshing contribution is to show how the serious comments are transmitted through comic plot and production ... There is no better introduction to this enigmatic author." - Times Literary Supplement