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Aus der Bibliothek von Prof. Wolfgang Haase, langj�igem Herausgeber der ANRW und des International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT) / From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - leicht berieben, leichte Knicke im Buchr�cken, sonst gut und sauber / lightly rubbed, slight creases in spine, otherwise good and clean. - In Aristophanes' Novel Forms: The Political Role of Drama, Peter Nichols uses ancient comedy to examine the political influence on drama. While the topic is the theatre of antiquity, the study relates unmistakably to the dramatic productions of our time. The author carefully analyses three plays in which Aristophanes treats the question of drama as civic education, portraying his colleagues and himself as characters. From Aristophanes' dramatic discourse on drama Nichols derives understanding of the current state of the art, in both its serious and popular manifestations. In the United States, contemporary discussion of the arts is often confined to such legal quandaries as freedom of speech, obscenity, and the control of public finance. Debate over such matters 'can never tell us what role we expect the arts to play in our society'. Nichols argues that it is necessary to examine the underlying issues. What do we want from the dramatic arts? How may they edify a democratic people? This scholarly text steers masterfully through the complexities of classical drama, and arrives at conclusions that are themselves the seeds of further reflection upon politics and the arts. / Contents I Introduction 1. Drama and Politics 2. Aristophanes II The Acharnians 1. Introduction 2. The Political Problem 3. The Comic Poet as Edifier of the People 4. Continuation of the Comic Poet�s Instruction of the People: Dicaeopolis as the �Just City� 5. Conclusion III The Thesmophoriazusae 1. Introduction 2. The Tragedian and the People: Euripides and his Kinsman 3. The Encounter with Agathon: Beauty and Justice as Competing Objects of Tragedy 4. The Indictment of Euripides: Tragedy and the Ascent of the Private Realm 5. Conclusion IV The Frogs 1. Introduction 2. The Discussion of Comedy in the Prologue 3. The Education of Dionysus 4. The Poetry Contest a. Introduction b. The Argument of Euripides c. The Argument of Aeschylus d. The Political Questions 5. Conclusion V Conclusion: Aristophanes� Defence and Critique of Drama 1. The Rhetorical and Cognitive Power of Drama 2. The Types of Drama Formative of the City Bibliography I Editions of Aristophanes and the Greek Tragedians II Other Works Index of Names. ISBN 9781861062888