Contents -- Preface -- Abbreviations -- Chapter 1 -- Political Allegory in Aristophanes -- "Emphasis" -- Alcibiades' Violence -- Alcibiades' Speech Defect -- Legal Constraints on Comedy -- The ??µ?d??µe??? -- The Problem with Political Allegory -- Ambiguity in Greece -- Aristophanes' Sophisticated Audience -- Polymorphic Characterization -- Chapter 2 -- Wordplay -- Pericles, Alcibiades and Aspasia on Stage -- Wordplay, History and Ambiguity -- Alcibiades and Pericles -- Pericles' Reputation -- Aristophanes and Politics -- The Text of Aristophanes -- Chapter 3 -- Pericles (and Alcibiades) on Stage: The Story So Far -- Acharnians (425 BC) -- Knights (424 BC) -- Clouds (423 BC) -- Wasps (422 BC) -- Peace (421 BC) -- Birds (414 BC) -- Chapter 4 -- The Tragic Context: the Case of Euripides' Ion -- Euripides Ion -- Ion and Alcibiades -- Sophocles Ajax and Alcibiades -- Pericles and Delphi -- Aspasia the Ionian -- Chapter 5 -- Happy Families: Plutus i -- The ??µ?d??µe??? -- The Opening Scene -- Wealth Declares Himself -- Chapter 6 -- Home Economics: Plutus ii -- Poverty -- The Visit to Asclepius -- The Honest Man and the Sycophant -- Ménage à trois -- Hermes and the Priest of Zeus -- The Finale -- Chapter 7 -- "The Woman of Old": Euripides' Helen and Andromeda -- Chronology -- "Archipiada" -- Egypt -- Love, Honour and Beauty -- Theonoe, Piety and Purification -- Teucer -- Menelaus -- Theoclymenus -- The Second Stasimon -- Shaving, Sacrifice and Sobriety -- Andromeda -- Chapter 8 -- "Alcibiades is a Woman's Man": Lysistrata -- Alcibiades and Samos -- Caryatids and Tyranny -- The Opening Scene of Lysistrata -- Lysistrata's masculine characterization -- Lampito -- Generals at Samos -- Cinesias and Myrrhine -- Chapter 9 -- Alcibiades in Gaol: Thesmophoriazusae -- The Date of the Play -- The dramatis personae -- (i) The Kinsman.

(ii) Euripides -- (iii) Agathon -- (iv) The Scythian Archer -- The Interview with Agathon -- The Festival, etc -- Palamedes, Helen and Andromeda -- Thucydides' End -- Chapter 10 -- Frogs: Nothing to Do With Literature -- Dionysus' Question -- Lions in the State and Aeschylus -- Losing Little Oiljars -- Exiles and Euripides -- Dionysus, Xanthias, Heracles -- Why Does Aeschylus Win? -- Chapter 11 -- Aspasia on Stage: Ecclesiazusae -- Aspasia in the Fourth Century -- Polymorphic Characterization -- Pericles, Alcibiades -- Aspasia, Alcibiades and Hipparete -- Speaking Names -- Hipparete, Aspasia and Alcibiades -- Aspasia, Plato and Aristotle -- Conclusion -- Appendix 1 -- Alcibiades' "Servile Birth", Alcibiades' "Matrophilia": Inventions of the Stage? -- "He loved his mother" -- Servile Origins -- Aspasia Again -- Clever Slaves -- Appendix 2 -- The Athenian Plague of 430-428 BC -- Appendix 3 -- Keith Sidwell's Aristophanes the Democrat -- Bibliography -- Index Locorum -- General Index.