A review by msand3
The Birds by Aristophanes

2.0

2.5 stars. Aristophanes’ conservatism is one full display throughout this work as he rails against philosophy, mathematics, the state, poetry, and just about anyone else who doesn’t respect the old gods. This wouldn’t be so bad if the play were a little less goofy. I sometimes wonder if stuff like this would be considered classic if any other works survived on which to compare it. The only Old Comedy we have is Aristophanes, and so Aristophanes is the author of these Masterpieces. While I can certainly understand that the reason the works survived is because they were considered classics, I refuse to accept that they were necessarily the best and/or deserve respect just because they happen to be the only works that haven't been lost. Surely the ancient world had better comedy to offer than this?