The Rivals of Aristophanes

The work of the other comic poets of classical Athens, those who competed with, and some cases defeated, their (eventually) better-known fellow comedian, Aristophanes, has almost eluded the historical record.

The poetry of Cratinus, Phrynichus, Eupolis and the rest has survived only in tantalising, often tiny, fragments and citations.

Modern studies in this field have themselves often been difficult to access.

Here a cast of international scholars provides a set of 28 interpretative essays to cover every poet of Athenian Old Comedy for whom significant evidence survives.