Aristophanes：Myth, Ritual and Comedy

ThisbookplacestheplaysofAristophanesintheircontemporarycontext,askingwhataspectsofGreek,andespeciallyAthenian,culturethesecomediesbroughtintoplayfortheiroriginalaudiences.ItmakesparticularuseofthestructuralanalysisofGreekritualsandmythstodemonstratehowtheirmeaningsandfunctionscanbeusedtointerprettheplays.Thisinformationisthenusedtosuggestwaysinwhichtwentieth-centuryaudiencesmayreadtheplaysintermsofcontemporaryliterarytheoriesandconcerns.Thisisthefirstbooktoapplythetechniquesofstructuralanthropologysystematicallytoallthecomedies.Itdoesnotimposeasingleinterpretativestructureontheplaysbutarguesthateachplayoperateswitharangeofdifferentstructures,andthatgroupsofplaysusesimilarstructuresindifferentways.AllGreekistranslated.