This is a seminal study, one of the first major revisionist attempts, which established that Greek Comedy continued embracing an ideological, i.e. political, agenda even after the supposed shift from Aristophanes' "res publica" to Menander's "res privata". Konstan demonstrates that the "private" world of Menander functions as a field of tension for the set of communal values that underpin the "public" world of the Greek polis. Menander's plays, according to Konstan, often exhibit a structural fissure which stems from the gap between social function and individual motivation. Although they end up reasserting the communality of the "asty", the very artificiality of their resolutions leaves many of the major ethical dilemmas hanging, thus allowing for an expanded understanding of the relation between the moral agency of women and men and the constraints of social status. Konstan's style is sophisticated, yet accessible, nuanced and insightful, yet lucid. Even if one could contest the specifics of his argumentation at points (I guess the worth of every major study is to spark dialogue rather than crystallise a rigid orthodoxy), this book is rightfully under way of acquiring classic status. Konstan's book may not be the ideal starting point for the non-initiant, nevertheless it is certainly suitable for anybody generally curious about the interplay between literature and society in the Greek world- and beyond.