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Aristophanes, a Greek playwright, wrote and directed a comedy, The Birds, first performed in 414 BC, in which Pisthetaerus, a middle-aged Athenian, persuades the world's birds to create a new city in the sky to be named Νεφελοκοκκυγία (Nephelokokkygia) or Cloud Cuckoo Land [2] (Latin: Nubicuculia), thereby gaining control over all ...
Greek Νεϕελοκοκκυγία ( < νεϕέλη cloud + κόκκυξ cuckoo), the name of the realm in Aristophanes’s Birds (l. 819) built by the birds to separate the gods from mankind. The term made its debut in English (as Cloud Cuckoo Land, a literal translation of the original Greek) in an 1824 translation of Aristophanes’ play by ...
After discussion, they name the city-in-the-sky Nephelokokkygia, or literally "cloud-cuckoo-land" (Νεφελοκοκκυγία), and then Pisthetaerus begins to take charge of things, ordering his friend to oversee the building of the city walls while he organizes and leads a religious service in honour of birds as the new gods.
- Date and Historical Background
- Characters and Setting
- Summary of The Birds
- A Brief Analysis
- The Birds Sources
Between 425 and 421 BC, Aristophanes probably wrote no more than five plays – all of which we can read today. However, after the production of Peace there followed six years during which his literary activity (if any) is lost to us. Then, in 414 BC, he produced two plays: the lost Amphiaraus at the Lenaean festival, and The Birds at the City Dionys...
Characters
• Peisetaerus, an Athenian citizen • Euelpides, an Athenian citizen • The Footbird, servant to the Hoopoe • The Hoopoe, formerly Tereus, an Athenian prince • Chorus of various types birds • A priest, masked as a bird • A poet • An oracle-monger • Meton, a famous astronomer and geometer • A seller of laws • An inspector • Three bird-messengers • Iris, daughter of Zeus, messenger of the gods • A father-beater • Cinesias, a famous poet • An informer • Prometheus, Titan and lover of humans • Pose...
Setting
The first part of the play is set in the forest, just outside Hoopoe’s nest and the second is in heavens, in the newly-formed Cloud-cuckoo-land.
Prologue
The opening scene of The Birds introduces us to a pair of typical Athenians with atypical names: Euelpides and Peisetaerus. Both names are invented by Aristophanes. Euelpides means “Good hope,” and Peisetaerus “Persuader of his comrade(s).” The latter name is a modern restoration. Most of the ancient manuscripts offer Peisthetaerus which, as Alan Sommerstein writes, is “an ungrammatical and meaningless form.” Older translations usually correct the name to either Peithetaerus or Pisthetaerus,...
Parodos
The Chorus now appears. It consists of 24 different varieties of birds, assembled from all parts of the world. However, none of them seems particularly thrilled with Peisetaerus and Euelpides. On the contrary, in fact: seeing them for what they are – humans and ancestral enemies to their kind – the birds want to peck out the eyes of the Athenians before these two might trick them as most humans usually do. Peisetaerus and Euelpides arm themselves with kitchen utensils, and prepare to fight fo...
Agon
Somehow, Peisetaeurus makes his proposal even more impressive. He claims that his goal with the establishment of a bird-city is none other but returning to the birds what was rightfully theirs. Using fanciful folk-etymology and citing dubious authorities such as Aesop, Peisetaeurus demonstrates to the birds that they were the masters of the universe before the Olympians. The Chorus is convinced: they enthusiastically express their support for Peisetaerus’ plan and give the two Athenians the r...
Ambitious and idealistic, The Birds is the most critically disputed of all Aristophanes’ plays. The absence of direct political allusions has led many to see it as “a play with a key,” and numerous critics throughout history have tried unearthing some real-life situations and figures behind the supposed façade of fiction and fantasy. For most of th...
There are a few translations of Birds available online, both in verse and in prose; if you are a fan of the latter, you can read an anonymous translation for the Athenian Society edited by Eugene O'Neill, Jr. here. If, however, you prefer poetry, feel free to delve into Benjamin B. Rogers verse adaptation here. See Also: Aristophanes, Athens, Peace...
Dec 1, 2017 · The word cloud-cuckoo-land denotes a realm of fantasy, dreams or impractical notions. It is from Greek Νεϕελοκοκκυγία (= Nephelokokkugía), from νεϕέλη (= nephélē), cloud, and κόκκυξ (= kόkkux), cuckoo; this compound was coined by the Greek comic dramatist Aristophanes (circa 450-385 BC) in The Birds.
Jul 18, 2011 · It originally came from an Ancient Greek satirical play by Aristophanes (The Birds 414BC), in which the original Greek Νεφελοκοκκυγία was often translated as Cloud cuckoo town until the early 1900s.
The phrase “cloud cuckoo land” is stated to have used by Aristophanes for the first time in 4th century BC in his play, which was later translated by Henry F. Cary as cloud cuckoo land in 1824 when translating his play.
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