The Knights [translations]
by Aristophanes
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The reality is that little is known of Aristophanes actual life but eleven of his forty plays survive intact and upon those rest his deserved reputation as the Father of Comedy or, The Prince of Ancient Comedy. Accounts agree that he was born sometime between 456BC and 446 BC. Many cities claim the honor of his birthplace and the most probable story makes him the son of Philippus of gina, and therefore only an adopted citizen of Athens, a distinction which, at times could be cruel, though he show more was raised and educated in Athens. His plays are said to recreate the life of ancient Athens more realistically than any other author could. Intellectually his powers of ridicule were feared by his influential contemporaries; Plato himself singled out Aristophanes' play The Clouds as a slander that contributed to the trial and condemning to death of Socrates and although other satirical playwrights had also caricatured the philosopher his carried the most weight. His now lost play, The Babylonians, was denounced by the demagogue Cleon as a slander against the Athenian polis. Aristophanes seems to have taken this criticism to heart and thereafter caricatured Cleon mercilessly in his subsequent plays, especially The Knights. His life and playwriting years were undoubtedly long though again accounts as to the year of his death vary quite widely. What can be certain is that his legacy of surviving plays is in effect both a treasured legacy but also in itself the only surviving texts of Ancient Greek comedy. show lessTags
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The Knights is an edgy political satire that reminded me of a "Saturday Night Live" cold open starring Alec Baldwin; Aristophanes himself may have played the controversial role of a greedy and corrupt politician of his time. An important difference from SNL is that Demos - the people - is a lead character in The Knights. Demos has grown fat, lazy and gullible but Aristophanes reminds us that he is the boss.
Some clever wordplay. The translator did a really good job on this. Almost all of the humor was specific to the local politics of the time so it was all completely over my head.
A crude play with some humor involving leadership of Athens.
A play that begins with one man telling another to say a particular set of phrases in the same rhytmn as a man masturbating. As I said, crude.
A play that begins with one man telling another to say a particular set of phrases in the same rhytmn as a man masturbating. As I said, crude.
"La déesse m'a donné l'ordre de te vaincre par mes billevesées." Cette réplique pourrait fort bien être la devise d'Aristophane : son objectif, dans cette pièce (et dans d'autres), est de s'attaquer à Cléon, l'homme fort du moment, qu'il représente par un esclave paphlagonien qui abuse de son maître Démos, et qui s'approprie les mérites des autres serviteurs.
Mais cette pièce est aussi une critique de la démocratie athénienne (et même de la démocratie tout court, tant ses attaques sont toujours d'actualité; d'ailleurs, le passage où le Paphlagonien se vante d'avoir "réprimé la prostitution masculine en privant Grytos de ses droits civiques" pour essayer de masquer le fait qu'il délaisse le bien-être de Démos me show more revient en mémoire à chaque fois que le gouvernement se pique de morale). Car le charcutier, choisi comme champion par les deux serviteurs brimés de Démos (et soutenu par les Cavaliers, autrement dit un corps aristocratique), n'est-il pas, comme le Paphlagonien, un être grossier, un "ignorant doublé d'un coquin", qui calomnie, vole, se parjure et use d'oracles trafiqués, tout comme son rival ? Même si le charcutier triomphant ramène Démos à la raison, il n'en reste pas moins qu'en démocratie, il faut un démagogue pour abattre un autre démagogue...
En bref : certains disent que c'est la meilleure pièce d'Aristophane. C'est en tout cas celle qui me pale le plus et que je relis avec le plus de plaisir. show less
Mais cette pièce est aussi une critique de la démocratie athénienne (et même de la démocratie tout court, tant ses attaques sont toujours d'actualité; d'ailleurs, le passage où le Paphlagonien se vante d'avoir "réprimé la prostitution masculine en privant Grytos de ses droits civiques" pour essayer de masquer le fait qu'il délaisse le bien-être de Démos me show more revient en mémoire à chaque fois que le gouvernement se pique de morale). Car le charcutier, choisi comme champion par les deux serviteurs brimés de Démos (et soutenu par les Cavaliers, autrement dit un corps aristocratique), n'est-il pas, comme le Paphlagonien, un être grossier, un "ignorant doublé d'un coquin", qui calomnie, vole, se parjure et use d'oracles trafiqués, tout comme son rival ? Même si le charcutier triomphant ramène Démos à la raison, il n'en reste pas moins qu'en démocratie, il faut un démagogue pour abattre un autre démagogue...
En bref : certains disent que c'est la meilleure pièce d'Aristophane. C'est en tout cas celle qui me pale le plus et que je relis avec le plus de plaisir. show less
Aug 5, 2012French
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Aristophanes, 448 b.c. - 385 b.c. Aristophanes is considered to be one of the greatest comedic writers ever to have taken to the stage. He was born in Athens, Greece, in the town of Cydathenaeum. Aristophanes is believed to have been well educated, which would explain his propensity towards words. It is also believed that he owned land on the show more island of Aegina. Aristophanes was first a satirist, he was well known for attacking anything from politics to poets, mainly the war between Sparta and Athens and the poet Euripides. He wrote more than 40, eleven of which are still being acted today. "The Acharnians" was his first play, written in 425, B.C.. This was the first of his plays in reaction to the war, as well as the play "Peace." But perhaps Aristophanes most famous play, Lysistrata, made his true feelings of the war known. In this play, the women seek peace by claiming celibacy until the fighting is stopped. It is the play that he is most famous for, for capturing the feeling of the people in a way that was both lighthearted and poignant. Aristophanes died three years after the war ended, in 385, B.C.,but left behind a legacy that has lasted to the present day. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Has as a student's study guide
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Knights [translations]
- Original title
- Ἱππῆς
- Alternate titles
- Ἱππεῖς; Equites
- Original publication date
- 424 avant JC
- Important places
- Athens, Greece
- Important events
- The Peloponnesian War
Classifications
- Genre
- Fiction and Literature
- DDC/MDS
- 882.01 — Literature & rhetoric Classical & modern Greek literatures Classical Greek dramatic poetry and drama standard subdivisions; collections; history, description, critical appraisal; Specific periods Ancient period to ca. 499
- LCC
- PA3875 .E7 — Language and Literature Greek language and literature. Latin language and literature Greek literature Individual authors
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 123
- Popularity
- 264,204
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.24)
- Languages
- 10 — Dutch, English, French, German, Greek (Ancient), Italian, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 19
- ASINs
- 3
