A Taste of Aristophanes "Congresswomen" ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΖΟΥΣΑΙ

"χαλεπὸν μὲν οὖν ἄνδρας δυσαρέστους νουθετεῖν, /
οἳ τοὺς φιλεῖν μὲν βουλομένους δεδοίκατε /
τοὺς δ'οὐκ ἐθέλοντας ἀντιβολεῖθ' ἑκάστοτε." Lines 180-182
My translation:
"How hard it is to counsel men who are chronically dissatisfied,
like you who are afraid of those who wish to love you, and yet
keep supplicating those who don't, each time you meet them."
'The Congresswomen' ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΖΟΥΣΑΙ is clever and relpete with belly-laughs, and its Greek is NOT difficult. There's plenty of bawdy ribaldry, irony, satire and earthy expressions.
What is quite likely the longest word in Greek literature is found near the very end; namely, λοπαδοτεμαχοσελαχογαλεοκρανιολευψανοδριμυποτριμματοσιλφιολιπαρομελιτοκατακεχυμενοκιχλεπικοσσυφοφαττοπεριστεραλεκτρυονοπτοπιφαλλιδοκιγκλοπελειολαγῳοσιραιοβαφητραγαλοπτερυγών. This mouthful of a word means a banquet with the various foods in it. Greek shares with German this compounding of different roots to make up words with detailed specifications. ( )

Loeb translations are often problematic. The books themselves are handy for having a bi-lingual text side by side but the English is often turgid, out of date and can be quite inaccurate.
However the new Aristophanes are, IMO anyway, a fantastic departure from the norm. Jeffrey Henderson has written a very funny, vivid and fast paced translation without seeming overly-modern and anachronistic.
Proof that Aristophanes can still be hilarious! ( )

Read "The Frogs," but don't be drinking diet pepsi when you do. The debate between Aeschylus and Euripides is as intellectual as any two pundits squaring off on tv today.