The Spirit of Aristophanes - by Mary C English & Dustin W Dixon

About the Book

Book Synopsis

The Spirit of Aristophanes is a wide-ranging collection of new studies of ancient literature and culture from fifth-century drama to the Roman novel. The essays use an array of approaches that will appeal to scholars and students interested in classical studies, gender and sexuality, literary history, performance and textual criticism.
This volume has been prepared in tribute to Jeffrey Henderson, William Goodwin Aurelio Professor of Greek Language and Literature Emeritus of Boston University and General Editor of the Loeb Classical Library. His vibrant research on classical literature, political ideology, civic culture, identity, obscenity and translation has shaped scholarly discourse for decades and has inspired each of the essays in this volume.

Review Quotes

Inspired by the towering scholarship of Jeffrey Henderson on Aristophanes and Greek comedy, this collection of essays offers a variety of new and exciting perspectives on Greek comedy and its legacy, including topics in genre, narratology, gender and sexuality, religion and myth.

This collection of essays by former students of Jeffrey Henderson offers a rich and often provocative response and tribute to Jeff's areas of scholarly expertise including editing and interpreting the language, performance and ideology of comedy. The essays question received categories of interpretation in a wide range of authors and genres.

About the Author

Mary C. English is Professor of Classics and General Humanities at Montclair State University. She is co-editor of the Thornton Wilder Journal. With Lee M. Fratanuono, she edited Pushing the Boundaries of Historia (Routledge, 2018); and with Georgia L. Irby, she authored A Little Latin Reader (OUP, 2e 2017) and A New Latin Primer (OUP, 2015). She also has written numerous articles and book chapters on the staging of ancient comedy and the reception of Greek drama by contemporary American playwrights.

Dustin W. Dixon is Assistant Professor of Classics at Grinnell College. He is co-author of Performing Gods in Classical Antiquity and the Age of Shakespeare (Bloomsbury Academic, 2021). He has published articles on ancient tragedy and comedy, fragmentary drama and classical reception in Classical Philology, Classical Quarterly, and Classical Receptions Journal.