We will read in class two of Aristophanes' comic masterpieces, The Clouds and Lysistrata, in the Penguin translation by Alan Sommerstein. The one play features Aristophanes' contemporary, the philosopher Socrates, who runs a school (the Thinkery) training students to win arguments whatever the topic, and has himself elevated in a balloon to breathe clearer air and so think better. The other play is set in the long war between Athens and Sparta, where the Athenian soldiers' wives, fed up with the absence of their husbands, hold a women's assembly, and decide to deprive their husbands of sex when they're home on leave, till they stop fighting. The plays sometimes use very rude language (so be prepared). I will provide a running commentary on political references (which are legion, and would be libellous today). Here is an opportunity to parade your thespian skills with gusto.