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"Eclogues from the Bird House" Author: [Ancient Greece] Aristophanes / [Ancient Rome] Plautus / [Ancient Rome] Virgil Publisher: Shanghai People's Publishing House
"Eclogues from the Bird House" Author: [Ancient Greece] Aristophanes / [Ancient Rome] Plautus / [Ancient Rome] Virgil Publisher: Shanghai People's Publishing House
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Description
Introduction · · · · · ·
Three classic works of ancient Greece and Rome, outlining the legacy of the times
From comedy to poetry, revisiting the initial emergence of Western literature
This book consists of three works: Aristophanes' Birds, Plautus' Haunted House, and Virgil's Eclogues, all of which are representative works of their respective times. Among them, Birds tells the story of two Athenians who hate city-state life and lead a flock of birds to establish a country, starving the gods and making humans their subjects. It is known as the most witty work of Aristophanes, the "Father of Comedy". At the same time, this work also has a profound realistic irony. At that time, the Athenians were trapped in the quagmire of the Peloponnesian War. This play mocked the Sicily expedition with the beautiful dream of "a kingdom of swans in the clouds".
The Haunted House is also a representative comedy of strategy by Plautus, the most important playwright in ancient Rome. The "rogue" slave and the cowardly young master, who will be forgiven or cursed? The characters in the play have prominent personalities, a tight rhythm, and constant reversals. The play satirizes the parasitism, hedonism and rigidity of Roman society through a "haunted house", and restores the family conflicts and love-hate entanglements of the time. It is a forerunner of later family dramas and strategy dramas, and has influenced many drama masters such as Shakespeare.
The Eclogues is the pinnacle of Roman pastoral poetry and a model of Latin literature. It is the masterpiece of Virgil, the greatest Roman poet. Pastoral, leadership, love, and divine will are all reflected in it. Yang Xianyi's translation is also precise and fluent, without any extravagance, restoring the complexity and simplicity of classical poetry.
About the Author · · · · · ·
Aristophanes (c. 446-386 BC), an Athenian, was an outstanding representative of early Greek comedy and was later hailed as the "Father of Comedy". It is recorded that he wrote 44 comedies, 11 of which have been handed down intact.
Plautus (254-184 BC) was the most important dramatist in ancient Rome and the first writer in ancient Rome whose complete works have been handed down. He was born in northern and central Italy and was well-known in the theater during his lifetime. More than 100 works were published under his name in his time.
Virgil (70-19 BC), whose full name is Publius Virgilius Maro, was a great poet in the "Golden Age" of ancient Rome. He wrote Eclogues, Georgics, and Aeneid, and is considered the first self-conscious poet.
Yang Xianyi (1915-2009) is a famous Chinese translator, foreign literature expert, cultural historian, and poet. He has been engaged in translation for nearly 50 years, focusing on translating Chinese works into English, including Chinese classical literature such as "Li Sao" and "Dream of the Red Chamber", as well as modern and contemporary masters such as Lu Xun and Ba Jin. He is known as "the man who translated the whole of China".
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