Paradoxical, or maybe not
June 4, 2013
In which classical Greek drama will you find these passages in praise of warlike achievements? 1. “Now, Spartans, do you not remember when Pericleidas the Spartan once came here to Athens and sat at our altars supplicating the Athenians – deathly pale in his scarlet cloak – begging for an army? You were hard pressed then …
Lysistrata at the Lakeside
May 2, 2013
Take a look at the Nottingham Evening Post review of last week’s production of Lysistrata, and at the thoughts of a member of the cast.
Thoughts of a serial translator
April 10, 2013
Here … is the text of the plenary lecture I gave at the annual conference of the Classical Association at Reading last Wednesday. Next year’s conference is in Nottingham. It will be a bit later in April, and we hope the weather will be better! Alan Sommerstein
In honour of a spiritual heir of Aristophanes
February 21, 2013
I don’t know whether the late Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, ever sought inspiration directly in the comedies of Aristophanes, but there are certainly some ideas of his which might well have made the Greek poet’s ghost exclaim “Now why didn’t I think of that first?” One of these would certainly be the all-vegetable Singing …
The political wrestler
February 14, 2013
In the week when it has become probable that Rio de Janeiro in 2016 will see the last Olympic contests in wrestling, a sport that will have featured in 305 of the last 306 celebrations of the Games (275 ancient and 30 modern – it was omitted from the 1900 Paris programme), it seemed appropriate …
Lysistrata in Liberia
February 6, 2013
Her name is Leymah Gbowee, and she shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for (among other things) her role, as leader of a mass women’s movement, in bringing an end to the Liberian civil war in 2003. The tactics employed by the movement included at least three that are strongly reminiscent of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata: …
Elections and divine wrath
November 9, 2012
In the last week before the US election, a storm of almost unprecedented violence (Hurricane Sandy) caused great devastation and loss of life, especially in New York and New Jersey. The election was held on Tuesday 6 November, and a day or two later a second storm created further disruption in the same areas, with …
Lysistrata the Warrior?
October 18, 2012
Aristophanes’ Lysistrata (see Two productions next year) is often thought of as a classic anti-war play. In Lysistrata the warrior Alan Sommerstein argues that this is a considerable oversimplification. Aristophanes’ heroine sees nothing wrong in warfare unless it is against the current enemy, Sparta, and even the war with Sparta is ended on terms that virtually amount …
Two productions next year
October 12, 2012
Spring 2013 will be Greek drama time in Nottingham! Two productions, a comedy and a tragedy, and both on the theme of the miseries of war. In April, the University’s own Lakeside Arts Centre will stage Aristophanes’ comedy Lysistrata, in which the women of Greece, by withdrawing their sexual services, compel their menfolk to stop fighting …
