This book argues that writers of Old Comedy belonged to recognisable political circles and used their comedy to disparage their political enemies.

The essays in this volume explore the many aspects of the “political” in the plays of Greek comic dramatist Aristophanes (5th century BCE), posing a variety

Locates in Aristophanes' comedies a complex comic disposition appropriate to the fundamental challenge of ordinary citizenship in a democracy.

Presents and seeks to explain the variety of humor in democratic politics. The humor ranges from the bawdy political comedies of Aristophanes in ancient Athens

Since it was no longer self-evident that "better men" meant "better government," critics of democracy sought new arguments to explain the relationship among pol