Frogs, The Poet & The Women & The Wasp by Aristophanes (Penguin Classics)

The master of ancient Greek drama, Aristophanes combined slapstick humour & cheerful vulgarity with acute political observations. In THE FROGS, Dionysus descends into the Underworld to bring back a poet who can help Athens in its darkest hour, & stages a great debate to help him decide between the traditional wisdom of Aeschylus & the brilliant modernity of Euripides. This clash of generations & values is also the subject of THE WASPS, in which an old-fashioned father and his loose-living son come to blows & end up in court. Meanwhile in THE POET & THE WOMEN, Euripides – who stands accused of misogyny – persuades a relative to infiltrate an all-women festival to find out if revenge is being plotted against him.