Clouds

Front Cover
Kessinger Publishing, Apr 1, 2004 - Drama - 260 pages
1892. Aristophanes was a Greek comic playwright. A brilliant satirist, he used the freedom of Old Comedy to ridicule public figures, institutions, and even the gods. In Clouds, the plot of the comedy, like most of those of Aristophanes, is very simple. A man belonging to the once sound and uncorrupted core of the people, a countryman, who has suffered material and moral ruin through the evils common to the times, though not yet himself attacked by the poison of the new culture, is led by adverse circumstances to embrace it. He has been wealthy, and could have enjoyed his property in peace and quiet, but weakness and want of character have involved him in a series of misfortunes. External influence, perhaps also the desire to raise himself above his rank, has induced him to marry a noble, but mistrained girl of a proud family. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

About the author (2004)

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 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.

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