These three comedies provoke searching reflections on the religious nature of humanity: What are the psychological sources of piety? What is longed for in and through piety? What would a god need to be, to truly provide what our humanity seeks from divinity?Aristophanes has been said to recreate the life of ancient Athens more convincingly than any other author.Thomas Lee Pangle holds the Joe R. Long Chair in Democratic Studies at the University of Texas.Wayne Ambler is associate professor in the Herbst Program of Humanities for Engineers at the University of Colorado.