Francis MacDonald Cornford

"Thucydides (/?ju?sddi?z/; Ancient Greek: ??????????, Thoukydídēs; c. 460 ? c. 395 BC) was a Greek historian and Athenian general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientific history", because of his strict standards of evidence-gathering and analysis in terms of cause and effect without reference to intervention by the gods, as outlined in his introduction to his work."--Wikipedia.

Long regarded as the most accurate rendering of Plato's Republic that has yet been published, this widely acclaimed work is the first strictly literal translation of a timeless classic. In addition to the annotated text, there is also a rich and valuable essay-as well as indices-which will better enable the reader to approach the heart of Plato's intention. This edition includes an introduction by acclaimed critic Adam Kirsch, setting the work in its intellectual context for a new generation of readers.

251 pages

The Origin of Attic Comedy was originally published in 1934. Its author, Francis Macdonald Cornford (1874-1943), was Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy and a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Beginning with Aristotle's observation that from the earliest stage Attic Comedy had 'certain definite forms', Cornford shows that these forms are clearly observable in the plays of Aristophanes and that they derived from a ritual drama common to both tragedy and comedy. Cornford was surprised by his own conclusions and his enquiries led him far from his original view that Aristophanic Comedy was composed of loosely connected and foreign sources. Combining a close examination of the eleven extant plays of Aristophanes and a broad treatment of the relationship between tragedy and comedy, this book will continue to merit review as a robust study of the origins of ancient Greek comedy.