Zachary P. Biles is an Associate Professor in the Department of Classics at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

S. Douglas Olson is Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Minnesota.

This volume represents a thorough re-evaluation of Aristophanes' Wasps, including a complete, independent collation of the manuscripts, an introduction that guides readers around fundamental information on the play, and an extensive commentary.

Aristophanes' Wasps was produced in Athens in 422 BCE. Like other Aristophanic comedies, it is a satire on Athenian society and democratic institutions, in this case focusing on the legal system and its supposed manipulation for personal ends by corrupt democratic leaders.

This critical edition of the play includes the full Greek text, detailed commentary notes, and an extensive introduction. It represents a thorough re-evaluation of the play, providing a wealth of insights and advances in our understanding of the work and related topics since the last full scholarly commentary by Douglas M. MacDowell in 1971. The text depends on a complete, independent collation of the manuscripts and contains numerous new choices of readings and emendations. The introduction guides readers around fundamental information; not just on Aristophanes' life, but on poetic and political interpretations of the play, matters of staging, and the manuscript tradition. The extensive commentary aims to equip readers of all levels with the information they will need to appreciate the play in its original performance context, and to evaluate it as both an historical document and an artistic creation. This new critical edition will be a starting point for all further research on Wasps, and will serve readers and scholars for decades to come.