Aristophanes BIRDS: An Adaptation for Modern Audiences in Rhyming Verse

Two Athenian Citizens - fed up with their hyperlitigious compatriots - leave the hustle-and-bustle of the City to seek a better life...

Coming upon the mythical king Tereus - a man whom the gods had turned into "the Hoopoe" - they decide to found a new city, with him, among the birds: Cloudcuckooland...

Most versions of this play are for the birds. This one's for you! Here, for the first time, even those without the mastery of Ancient Greek will come as close as the Greeks themselves to speaking the language of the gods, and to understanding the songs of birds...

Originally published as an appetizer to a Greek-English interlineal version of the play - with which it was coupled in a single, large-format volume - this pocketbook edition has been slimmed down, but still includes the customized glossary of explanatory notes from the earlier edition, offering tidbits and insights once only ever glimpsed from the dizzying heights of Cloudcuckooland itself...

You can also hear a few of the songs from this adaptation, sung by Callum Speed and Katey Rylands, on YouTube @quidzunc

Oh, and a warning: This book contains fowl language.