One of the biggest and greatest civilizations of ancient times was the Greeks. The Greeks made many contributions that still apply to American society today. One of the greatest contributions was Greek comedy. One of the most famous Greek comedic writers was Aristophanes. Aristophanes plays displayed comedy like political satire, dirty jokes, and toilet humor. Aristophanes influenced American comedy, as we know it today. Evidence of his influence is seen in comedians like Adam Sandler, Will Farrell, and Mel Brooks, also in television shows like Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show.
Aristophanes was born in ancient Athens to his parents Philipus and Zendora of Pandionis. He is considered by many as the most famous and greatest comedic writer from ancient Greece. Aristophanes is credited with at least forty-four plays, eleven of which have survived the test of time and are still around today. All of the plays that Aristophanes wrote have represented Greek Old Comedy, which is the original style of comedy in Greece. Some of his most famous plays are Clouds and Lysistrata. All great things have a beginning, for comedy that beginning was Aristophanes.
Aristophanes Political Satire humor has been used in television shows like The Dailey Show currently hosted by Jon Stewart and Saturday Night Live hosted by various celebrities. Saturday Night Live has had a variety of actors and hosts that have used political satire on the show. The most recent example was an episode hosted by John Goodman. SNL actor Jay Pharaoh played Barack Obama addressing his recent attendance to the Nelson Mandela memorial. Later on actor Kennan Thompson came in as the controversial sign language interpreter from the Nelson Mandela memorial. The Dailey shows main goal is to make fun of and mock politics. They make fun of congress, Obama, and most importantly the easily mock able Republicans. Without Aristophanes these shows would have never come into existence and e...