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“You can only enjoy Aristophanes’ Wasps if you have a goodunderstanding of the Athenian legal system.”How far do you agree with this statement?

Aristophanes is a comedy writer, whose surviving plays are dated from
425-388 BCE. The Wasps is his 4th surviving play, which is a satirical
comedy, attacking the Athenian jury system and law courts.
As a playwright at this time Aristophanes would have been a Greek
citizen with high status and good education, but with a lot of money to be
able to stage these plays. Aristophanes would have been writing, aiming
specifically at his audience. Although anyone in Athens could come to see
the plays they would all know about the law system, and the contemporary
issues and events.
However, many people today watch, and read, Aristophanes’ plays,
including The Wasps and still enjoy them. These people realise it was
written for a different culture of people, yet they still understand and enjoy
he plays, and find humour in them.
Aristophanes is a satirical writer. The Encarta World Dictionary
defines this as “the use of wit, especially irony, sarcasm, and ridicule...

Posted by: John Mayes

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