Aristophanes and the Current Moment
The Politics of Comedy
Aristophanes and the Current Moment
The Politics of Comedy
Description
Aristophanes' comedies have long been read as a response to the political turbulence of 5th-century Athens, particularly during the Peloponnesian War. However, this volume frames him as a 'political correspondent,' whose works engage critically with both his time and ours. The contributions to this volume explore the ways in which Aristophanes' comedy remains vital and disruptive in the present. The essays examine the tension between Aristophanes' comic exaggerations and their real-world implications, revealing how his humour both reflects and unsettles our current political and social concerns. Through topics like speech, violence, pedagogy, gender and populism, the contributors illustrate how Aristophanes' plays offer a lens through which to interrogate the fluidity of political and social power – both in ancient Athens and today.
In doing so, this volume reflects the provisional nature of comedy itself: a genre built on misdirection, timing and the inevitable instability of its moment. By engaging with Aristophanes in the 'current moment,' this collection invites readers to embrace the elusiveness and tension inherent in both comedy and scholarly practice. Far from offering definitive answers, the plays challenge us to question, engage and reflect on our own commitments and complicities.
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Table of Contents
1. Aristophanes' Current Moments: An Introduction (Samuel Gartland, University of Leeds, UK and Constanze Güthenke, University of Oxford, UK)
2. Reading Leo Strauss Reading Aristophanes (Constanze Güthenke, University of Oxford, UK)
3. War, Territory, Sexual Violence, and Citizenship in Aristophanes (Samuel Gartland, University of Leeds, UK)
4. The Crook and the Sycophant: Aristophanes, Hate Speech, and Power (Amy Coker, Cheltenham Ladies' College, UK)
5. Freedom of Speech and Moral Panic in Democratic Athens (Isabel Ruffell, University of Glasgow, UK)
6. Ponera orge: the Problem of 'Anger' in Aristophanes' Lysistrata and its Reception (Jon Hesk, University of St Andrews, UK)
7. Aristophanes and the Gendered Politics of Performative Assembly (Carol Atack, University of Cambridge, UK)
8. Batracho-Politics for 2024 (Mario Telò, UC Berkeley, USA)
9. Peace and Shit: Aristophanes as Primer on Copropolitics (Dan-el Padilla Peralta, Princeton University, USA)
Index
Product details
| Published | 16 Oct 2025 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 232 |
| ISBN | 9781350475106 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Series | Bloomsbury Ancient Politics |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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