Douglass Parker

Aristophanes helped shape comedy ... despite their often fantasical premises, were fairly consistently concerned with contemporary politics and social institutions. ... mildly aristocratic ... patriotic ... suspicious of social innovation ... sympathetic to the struggles of the common people ... unrestrained in insult ... exuberantly bawdy.

The Wasps is the fourth in chronological order of the eleven surviving plays by Aristophanes. It was produced at the Lenaia festival in 422 BC, during Athens' short-lived respite from the Peloponnesian War. As in his other early plays, Aristophanes satirizes the Athenian general and demagogue Cleon.

The women of Athens gather to sneak into the congress and vote the men out of office. The Congresswomen is bawdy, slapstick, and wildly funny - but it is also pointed. Aristophanes pokes fun at his own Utopian vision, but he is really concerned with the enjoyment of life. He adds to this enjoyment not only by lampooning all of society but also by reminding of the delights of love, food, and peace. - from inside cover.