Aristophanes, Peace

Donald Sells (University of Michigan)

Ed. by Jonathan Burgess, University of Toronto
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.1: Greek Writing and Culture: Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Imperial, -800--100.
Vol. editors: Jonathan Burgess (University of Toronto), Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Vaios Liapis (Open University of Cyprus), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Mali Skotheim (Ashoka University), Laura Swift (The Open University), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool)

Dates

First circulation or publication -421

Places

Ancient Greece (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Comedy
Play

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Aristophanic comedy is celebrated for compelling heroes who undertake bold projects that resonate with the average spectator and reader. The protagonists of

Birds

(415 BCE),

Lysistrata

(411 BCE), and

Frogs

(405 BCE), for example, each assert themselves vigorously and even shamelessly in their quests to change an intolerable status quo. Despite his very famous entrance—one of the most famous in Old Comedy—the hero of

Peace

may not so easily come to mind when thinking of the great figures of Aristophanic comedy.

Peace

’s second-place finish in the City Dionysia of 421 BCE is emblematic of what might be described as its average standing in the corpus, especially alongside the other, more popular ‘peace plays’ like

Acharnians

(425 BC)

and

Lysistrata

. Although the comedy has sometimes…

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2296 words

Citation: Sells, Donald. "Peace". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 October 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13332, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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Aristophanes, Peace

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