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Most readers nowadays encounter the plays of Aristophanes in the classroom, not the theater. Yet the "father of comedy" wrote his plays for the stage, not as literary texts. Many English translations of the plays were written decades ago, and in their outdated language they fail to capture the dramatic liveliness of the original comedies. Now Michael Ewans offers new and lively translations of three of Aristophanes' finest plays: Lysistrata, The Women's Festival, and Frogs. While remaining faithful to the original Greek, these translations are accessible to a modern audience-and actable on stage.Here readers will discover-in all its uncensored glory-the often raw sexual and scatological language Aristophanes used in his fantastically inventive works. This edition also contains all that a reader needs to understand the plays within a broader context. In his comprehensive introduction, Ewans discusses political and social aspects of Aristophanic comedy, the conventions of Greek theater, and the challenges of translating ancient Greek into modern English. In his theatrical commentaries-a unique feature of this edition-Ewans draws on his own experience of directing the plays in a replica of the original theater. In scene-by-scene analysis, he provides insight into the major issues each play raises in performance. The volume concludes with two glossaries-one of proper names and the other of Greek terms-as well as a bibliography that includes the most recent scholarship on Aristophanic comedy.

In this first comprehensive reading of Juvenal's satires in more than fifty years, David H. J. Larmour deftly revises and sharpens our understanding of the second-century Roman writer who stands as the archetype for all later practitioners of the satirist's art.The enduring attraction of Juvenal's satires is twofold: they not only introduce the character of the "angry satirist" but also offer vivid descriptions of everyday life in Rome at the height of the Empire. In Larmour's interpretation, these two elements are inextricably linked. The Arena of Satire presents the satirist as flaneur traversing the streets of Rome in search of its authentic core-those distinctly Roman virtues that have disappeared amid the corruption of the age. What the vengeful, punishing satirist does to his victims, as Larmour shows, echoes what the Roman state did to outcasts and criminals in the arena of the Colosseum.The fact that the arena was the most prominent building in the city and is mentioned frequently by Juvenal makes it an ideal lens through which to examine the spectacular and punishing characteristics of Roman satire. And the fact that Juvenal undertakes his search for the uncorrupted, authentic Rome within the very buildings and landmarks that make up the actual, corrupt Rome of his day gives his sixteen satires their uniquely paradoxical and contradictory nature. Larmour's exploration of "the arena of satire" guides us through Juvenal's search for the true Rome, winding from one poem to the next. He combines close readings of passages from individual satires with discussions of Juvenal's representation of Roman space and topography, the nature of the "arena" experience, and the network of connections among the satirist, the gladiator, and the editor-or producer-of Colosseum entertainments. The Arena of Satire also offers a new definition of "Juvenalian satire" as a particular form arising from the intersection of the body and the urban landscape-a form whose defining features survive in the works of several later satirists, from Jonathan Swift and Evelyn Waugh to contemporary writers such as Russian novelist Victor Pelevin and Irish dramatist Martin McDonagh.

Acclaimed by critics as one of the greatest literary achievements of the Roman Empire, the Civil War is a stirring account of the war between Julius Caesar and the forces of the republican senate led by Pompey the Great. Reading Lucan's Civil War is the first comprehensive guide to this important poem.

Catullus, Horace, Ovid, Cicero, and Vergil are standard reading for college and advanced secondary students of Latin. This book provides accessible information about recent scholarship on these authors to show how an awareness of current academic debates can enhance the teaching of their work.

In this work, Susan Ford Wiltshire traces the evolution of the doctrine of individual rights from antiquity to the 18th century. The common thread through the long story is the theory of natural law, which grew out of Greek political thought, especially that of Aristotle.

Prudentius, one of the greatest Latin poets of late antiquity, was also a devoted Christian. His allegorical masterpiece, Psychomachia, combines epic language and theological speculation to offer a powerful vision of Roman and Christian triumphalism. This edition makes Psychomachia accessible to modern readers.

Best known for his account of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides (c. 454-c. 395 b.c.) was an Athenian general and historian. This valuable commentary addresses the most famous part of Thucydides's narrative: the Sicilian Expedition (books 6-8.1), which resulted in a major defeat for Athens.

Juvenal's satires contain a wealth of information about the mentality of imperial-era Romans. This volume offers a fresh and student-friendly translation of two of Juvenal's most provocative poems: Satire 2 and Satire 6. With their common focus on gender and sexuality, these two works are of particular interest to today's readers.

The Greek writer Lysias is a fascinating source for the study of Athenian law, society and history in the late fifth century B.C. Six of his professional legal speeches are included in this new edition, both for their intrinsic interest and for the accessibility of their language. In his introduction, Dr. Carey discusses Lysias' life and place in the evolution of Greek prose style and in the development of Greek rhetoric. He approaches the speeches as attempts to secure a verdict favorable to the speaker and assesses how effectively the selection and deployment of arguments promote this end. He addresses textual issues and problems of Lysias' style and syntax, while focusing particularly on literary concerns: Lysias' use of rhetorical devices, his marshalling of fact and argument and his manipulation of contemporary values and prejudices.

This collection of readings about Cleopatra, one of history's most captivating figures, includes 10 b&w illustrations and 2 maps.

What was daily life like for a working man or woman in the Roman Empire? This text examines Roman commemorative inscriptions from the 1st and 2nd centuries AD to determine ways in which slaves, freed slaves and unprivileged freeborn citizens used work to frame their identities.

Volume 4 in the Oklahoma Series in Classical CultureThis thought-provoking book argues the contributions of women to the earliest advances in human knowledge, especially the discovery and development of agriculture, were much greater than has generally been acknowledged. By examining skeletons and grave goods, archeological evidence from settlement sites, and rock carvings and sculpted figurines, and by drawing anthropological parallels to later societies, Ehrenberg throws new light on the lives and social status of women in Europe from the Palaeolithic era to the Iron Age. The high status almost certainly enjoyed by women as the main providers of food in early prehistoric societies probably diminished in the later Neolithic Age, as men assumed an increasingly dominant role in farming. Even so, in the Bronze Age and Iron Age societies, individual women held positions of power: Ehrenberg considers the possibility that Minoan Crete was a matriarchy and that Boudica was only one of a number of female Celtic leaders.

This study presents Virgil as a radically different poet from any of his Greek or Roman predecessors. It begins with the "Aeneid", and includes chapters on the "Bucolics" and the "Georgics".

Although his audacious, erotic, and satirical verses survived the Middle Ages in only a single copy, Catullus has become in our time a canonical author, ranking in popularity and importance with Virgil, Horace, and Ovid. And for students and teachers of Latin, Daniel H. Garrison's The Student's Catullus is a definitive introductory text. This fourth edition, thoroughly revised, makes Catullus' famous poems more accessible than ever.

Designed for intermediate-level students and based on the author's many years of classroom experience, this textbook presents an outline of the essential forms and syntax of ancient Attic Greek. Louise Pratt also includes a handy appendix listing two hundred common Attic verbs and their principal parts

One of the most admired poets of Roman antiquity, Horace (65-8 BCE) had a major influence on later poets and writers. This new edition of Horace's best-known poetry presents the original Latin texts of his well-known Epodes, Odes, and Carmen Saeculare side by side with English translations.

A bilingual edition of Plautus's "Curculio". In this revision of the American Philological Association Latin edition, the introduction and notes have been expanded and a vocabulary has been added.

Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and Virgil's Aeneid are three of the most important - and influential - works of Western classical literature. Written in an accessible style and ideally suited for classroom use, Communication, Love, and Death in Homer and Virgil offers a unique comparative analysis of these classic works.