Aristophanes (c. 446-c. 386 BC), an ancient Greek playwright, is known as the father of ancient comedy. His plays are the best surviving descriptions of life in ancient Athens and are full of political and social satire. Only eleven of his estimated 40 plays have survived to modern times. What little is known of the life of Aristophanes is culled from the choruses of his surviving plays and from a few accounts that were given by his contemporaries such as Plato.