The bawdy comedies of Aristophanes gradually began to attract more attention among learned circles in the later 16th century. This trend culminated in 1586, when Nicodemus Frischlin produced new and strikingly original Latin versions of five plays by Aristophanes. With this work Frischlin completely recast the place of Aristophanes in the Republic of Letters, forcing readers to approach him as a dramatist of tremendous contemporary relevance. Frischlin was able to rehabilitate Aristophanes by calling attention both to the practical advice his plays could give on the administration of a res publica, and to the light they could shed on serious problems concerning rhetorical education and political discourse within the troubled Holy Roman Empire under Rudolf II. This work aims to restore Frischlin's translations to their rightful place of honor within the broader reception tradition of Aristophanes and Old Comedy, while analyzing them within the context of Frischlin's own longstanding campaigns for educational and political reform.

Acknowledgments A Note on Orthography and Translation I Introduction II Translation Theory and Translation as Interpretation in Frischlin's Aristophanes Theorizing Translation Frischlin's Distillation of Humanist Theories of Humor Modern Theorizations of Humor Applying Translation Theory and Humor Theory to Frischlin's Translations of Aristophanic Humor Conclusion III Education and Rhetoric in Frischlin's Translations Plutus Clouds Frogs Rhetoric and Reality Chapter IV Nationalism and the Politics of the Holy Roman Empire in Frischlin's Translations Knights Acharnians Frischlin's Approach to the Politics of Dramatic Reception V The Reception of Frischlin's Aristophanes Frischlin and the Developing Academic Aristophanes Frischlin and the Developing Political Aristophanes Frischlin and the Evolving Place of Obscenity Frischlin and the Developing non-Academic Aristophanes VI Conclusion Bibliography Translations and Editions of Aristophanes Secondary Material Index