Sharp, edgy satire from ancient Greece

Writing at the time of political and social crisis in Athens, Aristophanes was an eloquent yet bawdy challenger to the demagogues and the sophists. The Achanians is a plea for peace set against the background of the long war with Sparta. In Lysistrata, a band of women stage a sex strike to bring peace to Athens. The darker comedy ofThe Clouds satirizes Athenian philosophersSocrates, in particularand reflects the uncertainties of a generation in which all traditional religious and ethical beliefs were being challenged.