Milton W. Humphreys was a veteran of the American Civil War and one of the first professors of Classics at the University of Texas at Austin. His editions and translations of Greek dramatists were the standards in America for many years. This article explores the development of the comic agon – that is, the contest-in-words that is the heart of Athenian drama and a reflection of the speech competitions in Athenian politics. Prof. Humphreys argues that there is a distinct development of the comic agon between the earlier and later works of Aristophanes. The comic agon is again a matter of interest to modern classicists and this article does an excellent job of introducing this literary form and demonstrating how a clear definition of the form can have interpretative repercussions on the reading of the play.