{"title":"Robert Tordoff","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"aristophanes-cavalry-book-robert-tordoff-9781350065673","title":"Aristophanes: Cavalry","description":"Offering for the first time a student introduction to Aristophanes’ most explosive political satire, this volume is an essential guide to the context, themes and later reception of Cavalry. The ancient comedy is a fascinating insight into demagoguery and political rhetoric in classical Athens. These are subjects that resonate with a modern audience more now than ever before.  Originally performed in 424 BCE, Cavalry was the first play Aristophanes directed himself and it was awarded first prize. It targets the Athenian demagogue, Cleon, who had risen to prominence since the death of Pericles and to pre-eminence after an audacious victory over Sparta in 425 BCE. In Cavalry, Aristophanes attacks Cleon’s popularity with the masses, but also criticises the democracy itself as guilty of gullibility, self-interest and political shortsightedness. As the play shows, the only hope of escape from the crisis is for Athens to find a leader even more popular Cleon. And who better to be more foul-mouthed, depraved and shameless than a sausage-seller, if only because he turns out in the end to have a good heart and a true love of traditional Athenian values?","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50698133602577,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50698137338129,"sku":"NGR9781350065673","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52120908759313,"sku":"NLS9781350065673","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1350065676.jpg?v=1751177051"},{"product_id":"aristophanes-cavalry-book-robert-tordoff-9781350065680","title":"Aristophanes: Cavalry","description":"Offering for the first time a student introduction to Aristophanes’ most explosive political satire, this volume is an essential guide to the context, themes and later reception of Cavalry. The ancient comedy is a fascinating insight into power  relations between slaves and slaveholders and the upper and lower  classes in classical Athens, and its political and social themes  resonate with a modern audience more now than ever before.  Originally performed in 424 BCE, Cavalry targets the Athenian demagogue Cleon, who had risen to  prominence since the death of Pericles and to pre-eminence after an  audacious victory over Sparta in 425. In Cavalry, Aristophanes attacks Cleon’s popularity with the urban  underclass, but also targets democracy itself as guilty of gullibility,  self-interest, and political short-sightedness. As the play shows, the  only hope of escape from this crisis is for  Athens to find a leader even more foul-mouthed, depraved, and shameless  than Cleon himself. And who better than a sausage-seller, if only  because he turns out in the end to have a good heart and a true love of  traditional Athenian values?","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51211518837009,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51211519033617,"sku":"NGR9781350065680","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51819318706449,"sku":"NIN9781350065680","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52655567831313,"sku":"NLS9781350065680","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1350065684.jpg?v=1751304824"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-robert-tordoff.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}