Description

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). - Zustand: Minimale Leimr�ckst�e auf Anpappblatt. Ansonsten im einwandfreien Zustand. / Condition: Minimal glue residues on paste-on sheet. Otherwise in perfect condition. - Content: Aristophanes� Birds, Wasps, and Frogs offer the best-known examples of the animal choruses of Greek comedy of the fifth century B.C., but sixthcentury vase-paintings of men costumed as cocks, bulls, and horses indicate that comedies were only the last phase of a longer tradition. This book suggests that although the earlier masquerades may have had ritual origins, they should be seen also as products of the culture of the archaic aristocratic symposium. The animal choruses of the late fifth century may have been conscious revivals of an earlier tradition. Moreover, the animals of comedy were not the predators found in other literary genres; they were, instead, social animals who showed that nature and culture could co-exist. The Birds, which tells the story of a city foundation, also parodies fifth-century philosophical accounts of the origins of human civilization. Also discussed are the Wasps, Frogs, and fragments of lost comedies. Kenneth S. Rothwell, Jr., is associate professor of classics at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. He is the author of Politics and Persuasion in Aristophanes� �Ecclesiazusae.� ISBN 9780521860666