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Aristophanes

Aristocratic Athenian Hero Pericles Versus Demagogue Villain Cleon

Aristocratic Athenian Hero Pericles Versus Demagogue Villain Cleon

The founding of the Delian League in 478 BC moved the Athenians closer to the idea of democracy. However, although the Athenians believed that all men were created equal in political power and the...
Pericles's Funeral Oration, by Philipp Foltz (1852)(Public Domain)

Searching For True Monarchy In Greek Literature

Since the beginning of time monarchs and monarchy have attracted a great deal of attention in the media. Countless works of history have focused on the deeds and misdeeds of political leaders, and...
Orestes Pursued by the Furies by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1862) (Public Domain)

Aristophanes and Euripides: The Comedy and Tragedy of Fifth Century BC Greek Women

Euripides (circa 480 – 406 BC) was the last of the three great tragedians of Classical Greece - the other two being Aeschylus, the ‘Father of Tragedy’ who, among many others wrote Agamemnon (458 BC)...
Tragic Comic Masks Hadrian's Villa mosaic

Ancient Greek Theater: Is it a Man’s World?

By Ben Potter / Classical Wisdom The two major Athenian theatrical festivals, The Lenaia and The City Dionysia were held in honor of the god Dionysus . Calling them theatrical, whilst not misleading...
The Banquet (after Plato). second version (1874) by Anselm Feuerbach.

Plato’s Symposium: Is it Just a Joke?

When talking about love in the classical age, we would be utterly remiss to not include Plato’s Symposium in our conversation. Symposium is Plato’s recounting of a, supposedly true, ancient cocktail...
Mosaic, shown Gargoyles in form of Theatrical masks of Tragedy and Comedy. Roman artwork, 2nd century AD.

Masks, Sex, Laughter, and Tears: The Exciting Evolution of Ancient Greek Theater

The city of theater was Athens. Athens birthed drama, bred drama, and ultimately was responsible for cultivating it into the premiere art of the Classical world—at least according to Greek...
A vase depicting a scene from Aristophanes’ play ‘The Birds.

The Controversial Plays of Aristophanes: How the Ancient Greek Father of Comedy Created a Legacy

In the theater of Ancient Greece, one of the three main dramatic forms was comedy (the other two being tragedy and satyr plays). Greek comedy has been divided by the Alexandrian grammarians into...