Scatter Brained

01
All’s Well: 
Th
  e Original, Original Kings of Comedy
ARISTOPHANES
Overview:
 Th
  e inventor of comedy. Th
  e plot of his most fa-
mous play had the wives of dueling Athens and Sparta with-
hold sex from the warmongers until, fi nally, peace fell over 
the land.
Best Lines:
“Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhypo-
trimmatosilphioparaomelitokatakechymenokichlepikossy-
phophattoperisteralektryonoptekephalliokigklopeleiola-
goiosiraiobaphetraganopterygon.” A grammatically correct 
Greek word that Aristophanes made up to poke fun at the 
Greek language.
“Th
  ese impossible women . . . can’t live with them, or without 
them!” Yeah—it’s an old line.
SHAKESPEARE
Overview:
 Shakespearean humor generally falls under four 
categories: 1) horrible puns that rely on knowledge of 16th-
century English; 2) veiled references to sex; 3) satire concerning 

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S C A T T E R B R A I N E D
16th-century politics that scholars don’t even laugh at; and 4) 
wit that, sometimes, remains timeless.
Best Lines:
“Th
  ough I am not naturally honest, I am so sometimes by 
chance.”
“
 Sampson:
 . . . I will be cruel with the maids, I will cut off  
their heads.