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    The Birds
    The Birds
    The Birds
    Ebook70 pages49 minutes

    The Birds

    By Aristophanes

    3/5

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    About this ebook

    This portrayal of a flawed utopia called Cloudcuckooland is an enchanting escape into the world of free-flying fantasy that explores the eternal dilemmas of man on earth.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherStart Publishing LLC
    Release dateNov 1, 2012
    ISBN9781625580696
    The Birds
    Author

    Aristophanes

    Aristophanes (446–386 BCE) was a Greek comedy writer, who produced about 40 plays throughout his career. His work was the embodiment of “Old Comedy”—an early form of the genre that used exaggerated characters and scenarios. Aristophanes’ first play, The Banqueters, was produced in 427 BCE, quickly followed by The Babylonians. His most famous production, Lysistrata, was initially performed in 411 BCE and centers on one woman’s attempt to end a war by holding a sex strike. Due to his sensationalized plots and vibrant characters, Aristophanes is considered one of the architects of Greek comedy.

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    Reviews for The Birds

    3/5

    60 ratings5 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Masterful translation of a witty play. I'm not sure of the meaning of the play, but I can see where elements of low humor today were birthed in ancient times. I appreciated the translator's notes and glossary. They explained many obscure [to us] references--cultural and topical in Aristophanes' day. I read this to compare it with Braunfels' treatment of the story in his opera "Die Vogel" based on the same play.
    • 5/5
      This is a great play in any translation, but Arrowsmith's decision to use various dialects (such as Brooklynese) for some of the characters (to reproduce the effect the use of various Greek dialects would have had on the original audience) is brilliant. This is inspired nonsense that holds up even after 2000 years. If you think Greek plays aren't for you, try this one.
    • 2/5

      Nephelococcygia, a metropolis in air,
      Zeus' cloudy nightmare,
      Unlikely a bedroom scare
      From a sparrow’s wild rare.

      A respite between heaven and earth,
      “An avian heaven”, says Pisthetaerus,
      Flirting with the nightingale’s mirth
      Hoopoe consents ; what a fucking putz!

      Sacred chants float over the lustral waters,
      The birds join the jubilant choir,
      The peacock dancing in a tutu simply backfires,
      It’s not an ass-whooping Le Ballet Noir!

      The pelican, the spoon-bill, the horned-owl, the teal, the stormy petrel and the titmouse,
      Solemnized the laws of the land,
      Harboring the Olympians grouse,
      I rather be chained and canned.

      Messiah to Bitch Dependency,
      “Birds over bitches!” proclaims a pimp called Slickback,
      Pleading for wings is a bitch tendency,
      Cloud-cuckoo town- a two-cent hustler.

      Rainbows descent on womanly divinity,
      “That’s a bitch!” , yelps Slickback,
      Iris, messenger of Gods, heart of Zeus’ affinity,
      “That bitch’s gonna fuck y’all".

      Perching on twigs, the birds laud the forgotten heroes,
      A choral interlude, a cry for pigeons,
      Howl the pigeons preening their Afros,
      “You came to the wrong neighborhood, motherfucking wigeons!”

      A cry of an amateur,
      Verses may not rationally click
      Least an award clincher,
      I care a fuck ; I just blasted a stick!








    • 3/5
      Two men who go to the birds to set up a utopian city in the clouds so they can "oust" the gods from Olympus. Supposedly the birds were created before the Titans and were more worthy of being worshipped than the Olympians.I guess this is supposed to be a parody of utopianism. It is funny in places, though some of it was bawdy. I'm glad I read this play because it's a "classic", but I probably wouldn't recommend it to others. I do think it's cool that a play can survive over 2000 years after it was written, though.
    • 5/5
      This is a brilliant commentary. It was more or less the work of a lifetime. Nan Dunbar became a bird watcher in order to understand the bird lore properly. The commentary is very detailed and explains pretty well everything.

    Book preview

    The Birds - Aristophanes

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