Akhnaians, Horsemen--Aristophanes

Author: (Ancient Greece) Aristophanes
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: Aristophanes (c. 446 BC – 385 BC) was a representative poet of Old Comedy in Athens, having written over forty plays, with eleven still surviving. Throughout his life, Aristophanes witnessed the glory under Pericles, the internal strife of the Peloponnesian War, and the decline of Athens from prosperity to decline. His plays are distinctive, filled with sharp satire and criticism of the times, vividly portraying the poet's reflections on Athenian democratic politics and cultural trends from the mid-5th century BC to the 4th century BC. Among Aristophanes' surviving plays, The Acharnians is an early comedy, performed in 425 BC and winning first prize in the comedy competition at the Dionysia festival. The protagonist, Dikaiopolis, due to his inability to bear the endless wars, (illegally) signs a truce with the Spartans. As a result, this honest farmer is criticized by the Acharnians. The Acharnians reflects the grievances of the Athenian farmers against the war and their longing for peace. In The Knights, performed in 424 BC, Aristophanes directly targets the radical democratic leader Cleon, to the extent that no one dared to play the role of the tanner, a metaphor for Cleon. It is said that the poet himself took the stage and played one of his own characters for the first time, winning first prize. Aristophanes' comedies pioneered the tradition of anti-war literature in Europe. The The Acharnians and The Knights included in this volume are translations by the renowned classicist Mr. Luo Nian, sourced from Aristophanes' Comedies published by the People's Literature Publishing House (1954 edition). Except for errors caused by formatting, the comparative edition basically retains the original form of the translation.