The Women at the Thesmophoria [in translation]
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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Author Information

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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Work Relationships
Is contained in
Aristophanis Comoediae. Tomus II: Lysistratam, Thesmophoriazusas, Ranas, Ecclesiazusae, Plutum, Fragmenta, Indicem Nominum continens (Oxford Classical Text) by Aristophanes
6 Plays: Birds / Lysistrata / Women at the Thesmophoria / Frogs / Assembly-Women / Wealth by Aristophanes
8 Plays: Assembly-Women / Birds / Clouds / Frogs / Lysistrata / Peace / Wasps / Women at the Thesmophoria by Aristophanes
Has as a student's study guide
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Women at the Thesmophoria [in translation]
- Original title
- Θεσμοφοριάζουσαι
- Alternate titles
- The Poet and the Women; Thesmophoriazusae; Ladies' Day; The Women Celebrating the Thesmophoria; The Trial of Euripides
- Original publication date
- 411 avant JC
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 .T5 — Language and Literature Greek language and literature. Latin language and literature Greek literature Individual authors
- BISAC
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- ISBNs
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- ASINs
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