Peace (Greek: Eiréne) is a comedy written and produced by the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It first appeared in 421 BC and was awarded second prize for that year in Athens. As with many of his plays, Aristophanes attacks and lampoons his contemporaries, including Euripides, Carcinus, and especially Cleon. The jubilant spirit of celebration, contrasting strongly with the sceptical tone of Aristophanes' other 'peace' plays (Lysistrata and The Acharnians), can be attributed to the fact it was written shortly before the Peace of Nicias was sworn.
The elderly farmer Trygaeus is the central figure of the play. With Athens and Sparta fighting each other in the Peloponnesian War, Trygaeus mounts a giant dung beetle in the style of the hero Bellerophon mounting Pegasus and flies to heaven for an audience with Zeus, king of the gods. This part contains a great deal of scatology, as dung beetles feed off faeces. Trygaeus' servants are ordered to roll the faeces for the beetle, and...
