Laughter in stitches.

The era of Old Comedy (ca. 485 – ca. 380 BC), when theatrical comedy was created and established, is best known through the extant plays of Aristophanes, but there were many other poets whose comedies survive only in fragments. This new Loeb edition, the most extensive selection of the fragments available in English, presents the work of more than fifty-five poets, including Cratinus and Eupolis, the other members (along with Aristophanes) of the canonical Old Comic triad.

For each poet and play there is an introduction, and for many there are brief notes and recent bibliography. Also included are a selection of ancient testimonia to Old Comedy, nearly one hundred unattributed fragments (both book and papyri), and descriptions of thirty vase paintings illustrating Old Comic scenes. The texts are based on the monumental edition of Kassel and Austin, updated to reflect the latest scholarship. The complete Loeb Fragments of Old Comedy is in three volumes.

"This edition of Old Comic fragments is a welcome addition to the world of classics...This is a comprehensive and all-encompassing work; the introductions, the bibliographies, the notes, the apparatuses, the treatment of the papyrus fragments, the vase-section, have all been conscientiously and assiduously composed; and so these volumes will serve as an immensely useful tool for both scholars and students for a considerable time. Storey is to be highly commended for bringing this intricate task to completion." - Bryn Mawr Classical Review