Last evening in Harvard 1 Professor White read a translation of the first half of "The Birds" of Aristophanes. This play was written at the time of the disastrous expedition of Athens against Sicily. There are three views of the purpose with which Aristophanes wrote "The Birds." The first of these is that the play was intended to be a travesty on the Sicilian expedition. This explanation is not likely because the mood of the Athenians on Sicilian affairs was anything but humorous. The second view is that "The Birds" was written to bring about a great reform; but Aristophanes has given no proof that this was his intention. The third view is that the play is purely a fanciful creation, which is really the case.
Professor White's translation was illustrated by lantern slides representing the principal characters, the chorus, and various scenes in the play. The second half of the translation will be read next Wednesday evening.
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DUSK.
