This is a nice collection with four of the greatest hits of Aristophanes including The Birds and Lysistrata. The Translation by Dudley Fitts is lively and represents the dialog in a very up-to-dat form with, for example, people from Sparta speaking with southern accents. By doing so, Fitts brings the plays to life in a way that would not have been possible with a more academic translation. Unfortunately, the plays themselves are not all that interesting. ( )

Read "The Birds" and "Ladies' Day" (aka "Thesmophoriazusae"). Translations are OK, a weird combination of raucous, anachronistic puns/quotations ("Gettysbird," lots of garbled Shakespeare, etc.) and anal-retentive classicist pedantry ("Aisopos" instead of "Aesop," etc.). Probably the least terrible Aristophanes-in-English I have read, but that's not saying much. ( )