Abstract

This chapter examines the role of animals in Aristophanes’ extant comedies. It discusses the different context in which animals are presented in Wasps, Birds, Frogs, and Clouds. It explains that in most of Aristophanes’ comedies, animals are visually and acoustically represented, used for jokes, or even actively involved in the plot. The analysis reveals that Aristophanes employed animals as chorus members and for humorous comparisons of characters and well-known historical personalities, in the contexts of food and sacrifice, insults, terms of endearment, fables, proverbs, and curses, and as monsters.