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Peace

by Aristophanes (-450–-388)

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  • 1 hour to read
  • Reading level: 6th grade

"Peace" by Aristophanes is an Athenian Old Comedy written in 421 BC. A middle-aged Athenian flies to heaven on a giant dung beetle to rescue Peace from imprisonment and end the Peloponnesian War. His mission earns farmers' gratitude while bankrupting war profiteers. The play celebrates an idyllic return to countryside life with joyous anticipation, yet tempers optimism with bitter acknowledgment of lost opportunities. Through wildly absurd action and savage satire, Aristophanes lampoons politicians who profited from war.

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  • Comedy plays
  • Greek drama (Comedy) · Translations into English
  • Greece · History · Peloponnesian War, 431-404 B.C.
  • Peace treaties
  • Aristophanes · Translations into English

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Produced by Derek Davis

PEACE

By Aristophanes

Original Transcriber's Note: Translator uncredited. Footnotes have been retained because they provide the meanings of Greek names, terms and ceremonies and explain puns and references otherwise lost in translation. Occasional Greek words in the footnotes have not been included. Footnote numbers, in brackets, start anew at (1) for each piece of dialogue, and each footnote follows immediately the dialogue to which it refers, labeled thus: f(1).

INTRODUCTION

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About this edition

This free edition of Peace by Aristophanes comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #2571, released 2001-04-01. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Plays/Films/Dramas, Classics of Literature.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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