Classical Athenian comic playwright (c. 446 – c. 386 BC)
Aristophanes (Greek: Ἀριστοφάνης; c. 446 – c. 386 BC) was a Greek poet and playwright of the Old Comedy, also known as the Father of Comedy and the Prince of Ancient Comedy. Of his forty plays, eleven are extant, plus a thousand fragments of the others.
From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Native Name:
Ἀριστοφάνης
Alternative Names:
Father of Comedy
From Wikidata (CC0)
Lysistrata: [...] I will not allow either lover or husband -
Myrrhine: I will not allow either lover or husband -
Lysistrata: - to approach me in a state of erection. Go on!
Myrrhine: - to approach me in - a state of - erection [...]
Lysistrata: And I will live at home in unsullied chastity -
Myrrhine: And I will live at home in unsullied chastity -
Lysistrata: - wearing my saffron gown and my sexiest make-up
Myrrhine: - wearing my saffron gown and my sexiest make-up
Lysistrata: - to inflame my husband's ardour.
Myrrhine: - to inflame my husband's ardour.
Lysistrata: But I will never willingly yield myself to him.
Myrrhine: But I will never willingly yield myself to him.
Lysistrata: And should he rape me by force against my will -
Myrrhine: And should he rape me by force against my will -
Lysistrata: - I will submit passively and will not thrust back.
Myrrhine: - I will submit passively and will not thrust back.
Lysistrata: I will not raise my slippers towards the ceiling.
Myrrhine: I will not raise my slippers towards the ceiling.
Lysistrata: I will not adopt the lioness-on-a-cheesegrater position.
Myrrhine: I will not adopt the lioness-on-a-cheesegrater position.
Lysistrata: If I abide by this oath, may I drink from this [wine] cup.
Myrrhine: If I abide by this oath, may I drink from this [wine] cup.
Lysistrata: But if I break it, may the cup be filled with water.
Myrrhine: But if I break it, may the cup be filled with water.
This is the first of the series of three Comedies — 'The Acharnians,' 'Peace' and 'Lysistrata' — produced at intervals of years, the sixth, tenth and twenty-first of the Peloponnesian War, and impressing on the Athenian people the miseries and disasters due to it and to the scoundrels who by their selfish and reckless policy had provoked it, the consequent ruin of industry and, above all, agriculture, and the urgency of asking Peace.
Chremylus: And what good thing can [Poverty] give us, unless it be burns in the bath, and swarms of brats and old women who cry with hunger, and clouds uncountable of lice, gnats and flies, which hover about the wretch's head, trouble him, awake him and say, “You will be hungry, but get up!” [...] Poverty: It's not my life that you describe; you are attacking the existence beggars lead. [...] The beggar, whom you have depicted to us, never possesses anything. The poor man lives thriftily and attentive to his work; he has not got too much, but he does not lack what he really needs. [...] But what you don't know is this, that men with me are worth more, both in mind and body, than with [Wealth]. With him they are gouty, big-bellied, heavy of limb and scandalously stout; with me they are thin, wasp-waisted, and terrible to the foe. [...] As for behavior, I will prove to you that modesty dwells with me and insolence with [Wealth]. [...] Look at the orators in our republics; as long as they are poor, both state and people can only praise their uprightness; but once they are fattened on the public funds, they conceive a hatred for justice, plan intrigues against the people and attack the democracy. [...] Chremylus: Then tell me this, why does all mankind flee from you? Poverty: Because I make them better. Children do the very same; they flee from the wise counsels of their fathers. So difficult is it to see one's true interest. (tr. O'Neill 1938, Perseus)
Chorus [speaking for Aristophanes]: Yet I have not been seen frequenting the wrestling school intoxicated with success and trying to seduce young boys; but I took all my theatrical gear and returned straight home. I pained folk but little and caused them much amusement; my conscience rebuked me for nothing. Hence both grown men and youths should be on my side and I likewise invite the bald to give me their votes; for, if I triumph, everyone will say, both at table and at festivals, “Carry this to the bald man, give these cakes to the bald one, do not grudge the poet whose talent shines as bright as his own bare skull the share he deserves.” (tr. O'Neill 1938, Perseus)