Book Description
The plays of Aristophanes are the oldest comedies which still survive.They are famous for their comic characters, their fantastic plots, their farcical action, and their earthy humour.But they are also highly topical, full of comments, both comic and serious, on politics and other current affairs in classical Athens.This book provides an accessible introduction to Aristophanes' plays, focusing particularly on their relationship to Athenian politics and life, and to the effect that Aristophanes hoped to have on his audience.All passages quoted from them are given in new verse translations, and readers do not need any knowledge of Greek.But scholarly problems are not ignored, and specialists will find here both new suggestions and summaries of different interpretations with recent bibliographical information in the notes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Strong Opinions, and a Fine Overview
Professor MacDowell here gives a play by play breakdown of the works of Aristophanes. Included are short summaries, or surmises on the missing plays when there is some evidence - extracts, period refernces, etc. Professor MaDowell writes clearly and his thoughts are easy to follow - something I cannot say for a majority of his tribe. He can also be quite blunt about views not in accord with his own conclusions! A great deal of his attention focuses on Aristophanes' efforts to sell his ideas - with special emphasis on the political - to the Athenian audience through his plays, a valid and persuasive starting point for examination of the works as well as one which gives a strong immediacy to the discussion. The reader receives a steady stream of up-to-date information as to the how and the where and the why for each play's production. MacDowell's approach does not categorically eschew topicality; he makes an apt and enlightening analogy between the younger Aristophanes' plays and the films of Hitchcock and the differing roles of producer and artist. Overall this book represents much diligent and careful thought: MacDowell is as well versed as anyone in the literature and it shows. While I differ on several points, his overall conception shows much distinction. The Chapters vary in quality, but all are thoroughly discussed and several, such as the essays on the Akharnians and Wasps, are very fine indeed.
A thought-provoking book; not only a good overview of the works for someone who wishes to further and more closely examine this most perplexing of comic masters, but also an excellent addition to a classical library of critical works.

intro to aristophanes
For anyone who is new to the crude and seemingly inaccessible humour of Aristophanes, this book should come as a blessing. Not only does it give detailed analysis of the political background necessary to appreciate theclever allegories, but acquaints the general reader with the overallmessages of Aristophanes' plays that can be outrageously funny and clever.Arisophanes and Athens is very accessible, and sheds light on literatureover 2000 years old that is surprisingly relevant to our society today. ... Read more

Book Description
Thesmophoriazusae was performed in Athens in 411 BCE, most likely at the City Dionysia, and is among the most brilliant of Aristophanes' eleven surviving comedies. It is the story of the crucial moment in a quarrel between the tragic playwright Euripides and Athens' women, who accuse him of slandering them in his plays and are holding a meeting at one of their secret festivals to set a penalty for his crimes. Thesmophoriazusae is a brilliantly inventive comedy, full of wild slapstick humour and devastating literary parody, and is a basic source for questions of gender and sexuality in late 5th-century Athens and for the popular reception of Euripidean tragedy.Austin and Olson offer a text based on a fresh examination of the papyri and manuscripts, and a detailed commentary covering a wide range of literary, historical, and philological issues. The introduction includes sections on the date and historical setting of the play; the Thesmophoria festival; Aristophanes' handling of Euripidean tragedy; staging; Thesmophoriazusae II; and the history of modern critical work on the text. All Greek in the introduction and commentary not cited for technical reasons is translated. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Other reviewer didn't even read this book
Apologies for the commentary, but I thought it important enough for the unsuspecting to mention that this edition is in Attic Greek; it is not translated as the other reviewer states. In fact, if you do an search on Amazon for "Thesmophoriazusae" you'll find he pasted the beginning of his review on every edition on offer--are we to believe that he's compared every edition and found no differences worth mentioning?

Perhaps it's a ridiculous endeavor to warn other readers of this since few would shell out 90+ dollars for a translation, but I thought it might be helpful nonetheless. ... Read more

Book Description
This new translation (the first complete verse translation of Aristophanes' comedies to appear for more than twenty-five years) makes freshly available one of the most remarkable comic playwrights in the entire Western tradition.Aristophanes is the only surviving representative of Greek Old Comedy, which flourished during the heyday of classical Athenian culture in the fifth century BC, and his plays are characterized by extraordinary combinations of fantasy and satire, sophistication and vulgarity, formality and freedom.This special mixture of qualities calls for a range and flexibility of linguistic resources which only a verse translation can supply.The present translation balances historical fidelity with literary and dramatic vigour, and conveys some of the unique variety of Aristophanic comic theatre.There is a substantial general introduction to the author and introductory essays to each of the plays, as well as full explanatory notes and an index of names. ... Read more

Book Description

Aristophanes (ca. 446-386 BCE), one of the world's greatest comic dramatists, has been admired since antiquity for his iridescent wit and beguiling fantasy, exuberant language, and brilliant satire of the social, intellectual, and political life of Athens at its height. In this third volume of a new Loeb Classical Library edition of Aristophanes, Jeffrey Henderson presents a freshly edited Greek text and a lively, unexpurgated translation of three plays with full explanatory notes.

In Birds Aristophanes turns from the pointed political satire characteristic of earlier plays to a fantasy that soars literally into the air in search of a carefree world. Here the enterprising protagonists create a utopian counter-Athens, called Cloudcuckooland, ruled by birds. Lysistrata blends boisterous comedy and an earnest call for peace. Lysistrata, our first comic heroine, organizes a panhellenic conjugal strike of young wives until their husbands end the war between Athens and Sparta. Athenian women again take center stage in Women at the Thesmophoria, this time to punish Euripides for portraying them as wicked. Parody of Euripides' plots enlivens this witty confrontation of the sexes.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

My daughter says...
I got this for my daughter (16). She says it was good and translated in a way that was easier to enjoy than the books that other students in her class used.

THE modern Aristophanes translation
Professor Henderson's new translations of Aristophanes are uncensored, readable, fresh, and ultimately extremely enjoyable.He captures how Aristophanes probably would write if he lived today, with frank yet poetic language that brings these comedic gems to light.I have heard Professor Henderson's translation of Women at the Thesmophoria read aloud; the only thing funnier--and raunchier--I have heard since then has been a reading of his translation of Assemblywomen.Somehow Aristophanes manages to entertain his audience with the lowest of humor while invoking serious intellectual themes.(Imagine if people like Adam Sandler had brains. . .)
N.B.This is not your grandmother's Greek theater!Aristophanes, particularly as rendered by Professor Henderson, will make you rethink your notion of the Classics as dull, snooty, Stoic dust-gatherers in the far corner of the libary.
Enjoy! ... Read more

Book Description
This Comedy, which was produced by its author the year after the performance of 'The Clouds,' may be taken as in some sort a companion picture to that piece. Here the satire is directed against the passion of the Athenians for the excitement of the law-courts, as in the former its object was the new philosophy. And as the younger generation-the modern school of thought-were there the subjects of the caricature, so here the older citizens, who took their seats in court as jurymen day by day, to the neglect of their private affairs and the encouragement of a litigious disposition, appear in their turn in the mirror which the satirist holds up.-From the introduction to 'The Wasps' by Aristophanes.Download Description
XANTHIAS (turning to the audience): Come, I must explain the matter to the spectators. But first a few words of preamble: expect nothing very high-flown from us, nor any jests stolen from Megara; we have no slaves, who throw baskets of nuts to the spectators, nor any Heracles to be robbed of his dinner, nor does Euripides get loaded with contumely. ... Read more

Book Description

Aristophanes of Athens (ca. 446-386 BCE), one of the world's greatest comic dramatists, has been admired since antiquity for his iridescent wit and beguiling fantasy, exuberant language, and brilliant satire of the social, intellectual, and political life of Athens at its height. He wrote at least forty plays, of which eleven have survived complete. In this new Loeb Classical Library edition of Aristophanes, Jeffrey Henderson presents a freshly edited Greek text and a lively, unexpurgated translation with full explanatory notes.

Three plays are in Volume II of the new edition. Socrates' "Thinkery" is at the center of Clouds, which spoofs untraditional techniques for educating young men. Wasps satirizes Athenian enthusiasm for jury service and the law courts as well as the city's susceptibility to demagogues. In Peace, a rollicking attack on war-makers, the farmer-hero makes his famous trip to heaven on a dung beetle to discuss the issues with Zeus.

... Read more

Book Description
Aristophanes' Peace was performed at the City Dionysia in Athens in 421 BC as a decade-long war with Sparta seemed finally to be drawing to an end, and is one of only eleven extant plays by the greatest Old Comic poet.Olson's edition of the play, which replaces Platnauer's of 1969, is based on a complete new collation of the manuscripts, many of which have never been adequately reported before.The extensive commentary explores matters of all sorts, but it focuses in particular on the realities of day-to-day life in classical Athens and also examines the practical problems of staging.The substantial introduction includes essays on Aristophanes' early career, the politics of the Greek world in the late 420s, and the poet's theology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Sex and Communism--Could you ask for more?
Aristophanes is at the top of his form here, despite what some critics say.His lampooning of several ideas floating around Athens at the time(women's rights, communism, free love, etc, to use modern terms) is hilarious, and this praise is coming from an avid supporter of everything he's satirizing.The raunchy sex jokes are just as entertaining and twice as intelligent as anything coming out of Hollywood these days, and the political humor teaches one a great deal about contemporary events in Athens.The actual political and social order depicted in the play is very reminiscent of Plato's Republic(written later); as the previous reviewer has stated, this play is excellent in conjuction with Plato's writings on the subject.A class dealing with both works was how I came across this play in the first place, and it provided excellent fodder for discussion.

In terms of this specific edition, Mayhew translates every joke with absolute faith to the witty, vulgar original.The footnotes are unobtrusive, but they provide just the right amount of explanation of obscure references and odd figures of speech.They even mention which sections were expurgated by uptight Victorian translators!Accept nothing less than this version. (PS: If you loved this play, Lysistrata is at least as good, if not even better.)

Middle Comedy never looked so new!
A specter is haunting Athens, the specter of communism.

This premise animates the plot of Aristophenes' comedy "Ecclesiazusae" (or "Assembly of Women"), wherein the heroine Praxagora leads a conspiracy of hags dressed as men to vote themselves into power.Freshfrom her victory, Praxagora unveils her plan for a brave, new world whereall property, children and sex are held in common.What follows is anuproariously funny, shockingly vulgar, tremendously insightful satire ofcommunists and the logical consequences of their ideology.

Mayhew'stranslation and introduction would make for a perfect adjunct to anydiscussion of Plato's *Republic*, especially in an introductory Greek Lit& Civ course.First, Aristophenes has arguably innovated aspects ofcommunism that would later influence Plato.Second, the play contains somany allusions to contemporary events (helpfully explained by Mayhew), thatit provides a useful introduction to ancient history, political philosophy,and dramatic literature.Last, the comedy is funny enough for anyone(particularly sophomores!) to enjoy, and if it's the only play theyactually read, they'll know something important about ancient Athens,thanks to the guidance of Robert Mayhew. ... Read more

Book Description
Michael Silk presents a radically new critical study of Aristophanes. Against the limited view of Aristophanes as Athenian theatrical satirist, Professor Silk identifies him as one of the world's great writers. Through an exploration of Aristophanes' comic poetry, informed by a wide range of theory from Kierkegaard to Adorno, a particular consideration of Aristophanes' own understanding of his medium, and challenging comparisons with modern literature, this book adds a new chapter to the long-standing debate about the nature and potentialities of comedy. Close analyses of Aristophanes' language and style, lyric poetry, presentation of character, organizational structures, and humorous modes, are conducted in this spirit. The enigma of 'serious comedy' and of Aristophanes' complex preoccupation with tragedy is at the centre of a new assessment of Aristophanic comedy as a whole. All Greek in the text is translated; the versions offered seek to convey the distinctive character of the original. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Wise as Bentley, unpretentious as Moliere
Quite simply, this is one of the most wonderful books I have ever read. The author is as wise as Eric Bentley and unpretentious as Moliere. I first got this book when I was seventeen years old, and it changed the way I looked at comedy - it introduced me to Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, and Woody Allen. It encouraged me to consider comedy as a profession for myself and I am forever in its debt. It is still a book that I return to and keep finding new things in; I learn more from it as my own experience grows. I think that this is one of those books that nearly anyone could get something out of. I strongly encourage at least taking a look at it. It is very hard to put down again. I do not give my five-star rating very often but this book easily deserves it.

Wide ranging, informative and somehow funny
It is not easy to draw a line through a few thousand years of drama and find similarities, but Bermel manages to do so in a way that should satisfy and surprise both general readers and the more academically inclined.Rather than look on the dramatic heritage of a few thousand years,collecting a body of works into a category called 'farce' and thenexplaining that body of work away, Bermel instead finds farce as a mode ofexpression, finding it in (hitherto) unlikely places. I found his writingon Joe Orton a wonderful introduction to that playwright's work; but hisfinding of farcical modes in places such as Beckett's work and theabsurdists gives the reader good food for thought, and good things to thinkwith for the next time they go to the theatre, or even rent out a video. ... Read more

Book Description

Aristophanes, the great Greek Comedian, wrote perhaps forty comedies of which only the eleven presented here have survived. Renowned in his own time as a master of wit and satire, Aristophanes' comedies are almost modern in their irreverent look at, what was then, contemporary society.No subject was too elevated for Aristophanes' critical insight and sharp barbs.He poked fun at pomposity and posturing wherever he found it.These eleven comedies are a treasury of bawdy humor that still irks straight-laced moralists.

Included in this volume are all eleven of Aristophanes existing plays:

The Knights: 424 B.C. Attacks the political leader Cleon and his war policy.
The Acharnians: 426 B.C. Satirizes the war and makes fun of Euripides.
Peace: 422 B.C. The same theme which enlarges on the blessings of Peace
Lysistrata: 411 B.C. A burlesque conspiracy by the women to force a peace.
The Clouds: 423 B.C. Satirizes Socrates, the Sophists and the New Education.
The Wasps: 422 B.C. Makes fun of the Athenian passion for litigation.
The Birds: 414 B.C. Describes a new and improved city, Cloud-cuckoo-town.
The Frogs: 405 B.C. A satire on Euripides and the New Tragedy.
The Thesmophoriazusae: 412 B.C. Another literary satire of Euripides.
The Ecclesiazusae: 392 B.C. Pokes fun at ideal Utopias, like Plato's Republic.
Plutus: 408 and 388 B.C. A whimsical allegory more than a regular comedy.

These plays formed the foundation of the art form of the satire; using humor to make a political or philosophical point at the expense of those persons and institutions too powerful to be directly attacked.They stand as an amusing monument to the ingenuity and wit of the Ancient Greeks. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Comic Deception
Please see my short review on the Euripides edition from this series by clicking 'See all my reviews'.

Great Book!

The Greek Classics: Aristophanes - Eleven Plays is a great book. It is considered to be a classic for good reasons:it is a good read, it deals with really important matters, it is superb literature and it is a landmark in the history of civilization.

For about two thousand years, it has been on the reading list of most educated people in the Western Hemisphere.Undoubtedly, it will still be part of the curriculum at most of the world's colleges and universities two thousand years from now.You just can't consider yourself to have received a proper education without having read this great Greek classic.

While you are at it, you should also read:
The Greek Classics: Aeschylus - Seven Plays
The Greek Classics: Euripides - Nineteen Plays
and
The Greek Classics: Sophocles - Seven Plays

Classics like these are not stuffy, pompous, overblown literature as some ignorant anti-intellectuals might think.They are genuine looks at life by excellent writers who had something important to say - and said it well.

The Ancient Greeks were Real People

Aristophanes is intelligent, bawdy, rude and outright funny.I had no idea that the ancient Greeks were really Real People until I read this book.

Just a few months ago, I received the set of Greek Classics: Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Euripides and Sophocles; as a present, and I have been astounded at how relevant they are to this age. I have also been struck by the fact that these four volumes contain all of the surviving works of these great Greek Playwrights.

I have just finished reading the entire set and I am already looking forward to re-reading them.For me, reading these ancient works is a way of touching the past that creates a bond to all of humanity across the ages.

Funny Stuff Across the Ages

This collection of the surviving works of Aristophanes is a time capsule that shows quite clearly that humor and a sense of fun were present even in ancient Greece.The sometimes crude and crass jocularity had a point - to skewer the opposition.It has succeeded wildly throughout the ages.Parody and ridicule are as effective as they are timeless, particularly when really funny.

As you read Aristophanes, and find yourself laughing time and again, you can't help but recognize some of the jokes and ask yourself how many times in the history of the world have these jibes been reused.Some of them have been so overworked that they have lost much of their zing - but it is marvelous to recognize that they were probably used first, and best, by Aristophanes.

It is important to note that humor is just as important a part of a classical education as is drama or science.This book is one of the very best examples. ... Read more

Book Description
1892. Aristophanes was a Greek comic playwright. A brilliant satirist, he used the freedom of Old Comedy to ridicule public figures, institutions, and even the gods. In Clouds, the plot of the comedy, like most of those of Aristophanes, is very simple. A man belonging to the once sound and uncorrupted core of the people, a countryman, who has suffered material and moral ruin through the evils common to the times, though not yet himself attacked by the poison of the new culture, is led by adverse circumstances to embrace it. He has been wealthy, and could have enjoyed his property in peace and quiet, but weakness and want of character have involved him in a series of misfortunes. External influence, perhaps also the desire to raise himself above his rank, has induced him to marry a noble, but mistrained girl of a proud family. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.Download Description
Sparklesoup brings you Aristophane's classic drama.This version is printable so you can mark up your script and easy-to-download with links to interesting facts and sites. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent translation.
All dramatists, playwrights and intellectuals should be thoroughly familiar with Aristophanes.His work will live on for thousands of more years!

Don't Like Greek Stuff? Read this anyway--you might like it!
I'm in a humanities program at the University of Vermont, and this book was like watching "Roseanne" after a marathon of "The McGlocklin Group" (or however one spells that). It's not humoruous inthe way that many fine Shakespere funny--Aristoph. actually made me laughout loud! Read this when you're in the mood for something witty, but nottoo pretentious. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (5)

insightful...helpful
I had to write a term paper for my critical thinking class in college, andit was on Aristophanes. The topic, more specifically, explored howSocrates' fate would have been different, had Aristophanes not written theplay "The Clouds." This book was helpful in explaining the play,Aristophanes, and his relationship with Socrates. If you're studyinganyhting of this nature, or are just interested in the two men mentioned inthe title, I strongly recommend that you read it.

The madness of war
While the introduction, conclusion and first essay (on "Clouds") is apparently anchored in anargument between philosophy and poetry, the further Strauss leaves "Clouds" behind, the more we see throughhis close reading of the plays, in a way we never do from the youngerPlato, the cultural disintegration of Athens under the assault of the war.Euripides, not Socrates, emerges at the real opponent and comedy triumphsover both tragedy and philosophy as the best teacher. This brings us closeto an historical experience so often lost in classical studies,particularly in political philosphy, the madness in the streets of Athensand the fully-formed, transcendent characters which emerge with the comictreatment. These are not the spoiled aristocratic youth clustered aroundSocrates or the sophists (Plato's real enemies - not the poets). These arethe men and women at the corner bar. This book makes you wish Strauss haddone a "Hobbes and Shakespeare." His evident enjoyment of hissubject leaks through with increasing intensity the further he seems todrift from his dichotomy. Could it be Strauss wished to remind hisfollowers, ever so gently, to, like, lighten up and read a good comedy,even in the Greek some labor so hard to acquire? The book at least raisestwo questions: how did the bold Aristophanes avoid capital punishment? whydid the ironic, diplomatic Socrates accept his?

How the other half lives
This book follows the typical Strauss pattern: In the first few pages he makes a blanket statement (in this case, Aristophanes is a reactionary; in Thoughts on Machiavelli it was, Machiavelli is evil), then follows it upwill a torturous and nuanced analysis of the thinker's ideas until youbegin to wonder: In what way is Aristophanes a reactionary or Machiavelli,evil. He tells you the picture is black and white, then he brings you in soclose that it all turns gray.Be this as it may, Plato's Symposium andRepublic (especially Republic X where Socrates bans the poets from his justcity) tells only half the story (philosophy's side). In this book Strausstells the other half (poetry's side). In essence, Symposium and Republic(and to a certain extent, Phaedo) make up Plato's case as to why philosophyshould be the teacher of public morality instead of poetry. Strauss' booktakes Aristophanes' eleven existing plays and presentshis opposingarguments, his defence of poetry and attack on philosophy. Interesting readfor we who sit the other side of Plato's Republic (i.e. MedievalChristendom, where there is no longer any contest between Thomas Aquinasand Dante Aligheri).

Aristophanes: the Neglected Political Philosopher
In this book Leo Strauss takes Aristophanes depiction of Socrates as a serious political attack. No longer is Aristophane's attack rationalized away asa mistake as it is ussualy done by many authors (e.g.that hemistook Socrates as a Sophist) or thatSocrates was an easy target forriducule because of his 'ugly' looks. Strauss, writes that Aristophanespersonally knew Socrates (unlike for example Aristotle), and as seen in thePlatonic dialogue 'The Symposium' he was also a good friend of Socrates.Thus, Aristophanes attack on Socrates is not done out of hate, rather itwas done in friendship. The same kind of friendship that we also see inPlato's Republic, where Socrates attacks Thrasymachus while at the sametime becoming his friend. What Aristophanes depicts in his play 'TheClouds' is a "young" Socrates, one who does not know yet thewisdom of respecting a city's Gods. The Socrates that we all know and like,emerges much later and it is the Platonic Socrates, not the Socrates thatAristophanes knew. The Aristophenian Socrates had yet to learn his'lessons'.Strauss is not biased against the profane language found inAristophanes plays and does not view Aristophanes any less of a wise manfor it. Indeed, Strauss seems to share some of the same convictions inregards to Aristophanes as Friedrich Nietzsche. In Nietzsche's book BeyondGood and Evil, one reads: "As for Aristophanes-that transfiguring,complementary spirit for whose sake one forgives everything Hellenic forhaving existed, provided one has inderstood in its full profundity all thatneeds to be forgiven and transfigured here-there is nothing that has causedme to meditate more on Plato's secrecy and sphinx nature than the happilypreserved petit fait that under the pillow of his deathbed there was foundno "Bible", nor anything Egyptian, Pythagorean, or Platonic-but avolume of Aristophanes. How could even Plato have endured life-a Greek lifehe repudiated-without an Aristophanes? (section, 28)

Philosophy versus Poetry- Who wins and why care!
This book is a detailed analyasis of Aristophanes plays, their themes and their political, if we must say it- cultural, sigfigance on Athenians and the larger Greek world. This book is so interesting because a philosopheris anyalysis the works of art and then comaparing them with his intimateknowledge of classical political philosophy. The highlight is how wellAristophanes does in depecting accurately the life of 'the' philosopher,the philosopher par excellance- Socrates. If you have a favourableprejudice towards Socrates, you may not like this book because Strauss isrigourous in his insistence on detailing the real Socrates, the famousnatural philosopher who is fascinated by insects and what they can tell himabout the whole of life, even morality. Morality seems to be a distant,almost unimportant concern to the natural philosopher Socrates. But nay, itis this very point where Aristophanes' perspective on Socrates falters andit is why poetry cannot comprehend philosophy. Strauss subtly argues only aphilosopher, like Socrates and Plato, can be the ultimate judge of good andevil. Where Aristophanes is dependent upon the city for approval, and looksto the city for his poetry, although he claims to be the originator of it,Socrates looks beyond the city, philosophy is concerned with thetranspolitical. ... Read more

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Volume 5 of 54 ... Read more

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This is an intelligent and unusually thought-provoking reading of Aristophanes' Clouds. O'Regan focuses on logos, or the power of argument, and its effects, and on the self-awareness of the second Clouds as a comedy of logos directed toward an audience made resistant by devotion to the body. Within and without the play, logos meets defeat when confronted with human nature and desire. The argument conveys much insight into fifth-century thought and the play's workings, the more so because it balances rhetoric with comedy, and reminds the reader that this is a comic logos--explored in the comic mode, and connected with the intentions and vicissitudes of the first and second Clouds. ... Read more

Book Description
The scurrility of his satire, irreverent treatment of religious matters, and unparalleled degree of obscenity in comparison with other ancient literary works, offer Aristophanes a unique place in the ancient world. This text offers critical views on Greek comedy, as well as Aristophanes's The Birds, The Clouds, The Frogs, and Lysistrata.

This series is edited by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University; Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Professor of English, New York University Graduate School; preeminent literary critic of our time. Titles present the most important 20th-century criticism on major works from The Odyssey through modern literature reflecting a variety of schools of criticism. Texts also contain critical biographies, notes on the contributing critics, a chronology of the author's life, and an index, and an introductory essay by Bloom. ... Read more