Ralph Rosen
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195309966
- eISBN:
- 9780199789443
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309966.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book explores the dynamics of comic mockery and satire in Greek and Latin poetry, and argues that poets working in such genres composed their “attacks” on targets, and constructed their ...
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This book explores the dynamics of comic mockery and satire in Greek and Latin poetry, and argues that poets working in such genres composed their “attacks” on targets, and constructed their relationships with audiences, in accordance with a set of common poetic principles, protocols, and tropes. It encourages a synoptic, synchronic view of such poetry, from archaic iambus through Roman satire, and argues that only when we appreciate how an abstracted “poetics of mockery” governs individual poets can we fully understand how such poetry functioned diachronically in its own historical moment. The book examines in particular the strategies deployed by satirical poets to enlist the sympathies of a putative audience and convince them of the legitimacy of their personal attacks. It discusses the tension deliberately created by such poets between self-righteous didactic claims and a persistent desire to undermine them, and concludes that such poetry was felt by ancient audiences to achieve its greatest success as comedy precisely when they were left unable to ascribe to the satirist any consistent moral position. Several early chapters look to Greek myth for paradigms of comic mockery, and argue that these myths can illuminate the ways in which ancient audiences conceptualized specifically poeticized forms of satire. Poets addressed in this part of the book include Archilochus, Hipponax, Horace, Homer, Aristophanes, and Theocritus. Two chapters follow which address the satirical poetics of Callimachus and Juvenal, and a final chapter on the question of how ancient audiences responded the inherently controversial elements of such poetry.Less
This book explores the dynamics of comic mockery and satire in Greek and Latin poetry, and argues that poets working in such genres composed their “attacks” on targets, and constructed their relationships with audiences, in accordance with a set of common poetic principles, protocols, and tropes. It encourages a synoptic, synchronic view of such poetry, from archaic iambus through Roman satire, and argues that only when we appreciate how an abstracted “poetics of mockery” governs individual poets can we fully understand how such poetry functioned diachronically in its own historical moment. The book examines in particular the strategies deployed by satirical poets to enlist the sympathies of a putative audience and convince them of the legitimacy of their personal attacks. It discusses the tension deliberately created by such poets between self-righteous didactic claims and a persistent desire to undermine them, and concludes that such poetry was felt by ancient audiences to achieve its greatest success as comedy precisely when they were left unable to ascribe to the satirist any consistent moral position. Several early chapters look to Greek myth for paradigms of comic mockery, and argue that these myths can illuminate the ways in which ancient audiences conceptualized specifically poeticized forms of satire. Poets addressed in this part of the book include Archilochus, Hipponax, Horace, Homer, Aristophanes, and Theocritus. Two chapters follow which address the satirical poetics of Callimachus and Juvenal, and a final chapter on the question of how ancient audiences responded the inherently controversial elements of such poetry.
Wallace Matson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199812691
- eISBN:
- 9780199919420
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812691.003.0011
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
The intensely human culture of newly literate Ionia spread into every field of intellectual endeavor. Though it was obviously anti-religious, serious opposition to it took nearly a century to ...
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The intensely human culture of newly literate Ionia spread into every field of intellectual endeavor. Though it was obviously anti-religious, serious opposition to it took nearly a century to develop. Ionian thought came to Athens later than to Italy. It was introduced by Anaxagoras of Clazomenae and by members of a new “profession,” the Sophists –itinerant lecturers and tutors. The most famous of these was Protagoras, the first Relativist and explicit agnostic. Socrates, a native Athenian, started out as a friend of the scientific side of Pythagoreanism. As such he was caricatured by the comic poet Aristophanes; and as such he was condemned and put to death for “impiety.” But by that time he had undergone a conversion from science to the moral and religious interests also associated with the Brotherhood.Less
The intensely human culture of newly literate Ionia spread into every field of intellectual endeavor. Though it was obviously anti-religious, serious opposition to it took nearly a century to develop. Ionian thought came to Athens later than to Italy. It was introduced by Anaxagoras of Clazomenae and by members of a new “profession,” the Sophists –itinerant lecturers and tutors. The most famous of these was Protagoras, the first Relativist and explicit agnostic. Socrates, a native Athenian, started out as a friend of the scientific side of Pythagoreanism. As such he was caricatured by the comic poet Aristophanes; and as such he was condemned and put to death for “impiety.” But by that time he had undergone a conversion from science to the moral and religious interests also associated with the Brotherhood.
ANDREAS WILLI
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199215102
- eISBN:
- 9780191718915
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199215102.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter presents a synthesis of discussions in the preceding chapters. The most important conclusion from studying the six Aristophanic case studies is that it is feasible to operate with ...
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This chapter presents a synthesis of discussions in the preceding chapters. The most important conclusion from studying the six Aristophanic case studies is that it is feasible to operate with categories of variation which are more fine-grained than the well-known ones of ‘foreign dialect’, ‘paratragic style’, or ‘colloquial language’. The universally recognised absence of linguistic continuity in Aristophanes, and the lack of continuous linguistic characterization should not discourage the analysis of discontinuous characterization: first because variation is an interesting topic in its own right, and secondly because linguistic characterization is possible even in a discontinuous mode.Less
This chapter presents a synthesis of discussions in the preceding chapters. The most important conclusion from studying the six Aristophanic case studies is that it is feasible to operate with categories of variation which are more fine-grained than the well-known ones of ‘foreign dialect’, ‘paratragic style’, or ‘colloquial language’. The universally recognised absence of linguistic continuity in Aristophanes, and the lack of continuous linguistic characterization should not discourage the analysis of discontinuous characterization: first because variation is an interesting topic in its own right, and secondly because linguistic characterization is possible even in a discontinuous mode.
Katherine Clarke
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199291083
- eISBN:
- 9780191710582
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291083.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter discusses different forms of temporal calibration and articulation, as well as the complementary nature of natural time and culturally-determined time. After introducing some ...
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This chapter discusses different forms of temporal calibration and articulation, as well as the complementary nature of natural time and culturally-determined time. After introducing some philosophical problems concerning the nature of time, it examines evidence for the proposition that time as a malleable and constructed concept was familiar within the everyday life of the Greek polis, through the plays of Aristophanes and publicly displayed inscriptions. The connections between time as mapped out on a recurring annual cycle through the calendar and historical time which spans the past of a place are also considered.Less
This chapter discusses different forms of temporal calibration and articulation, as well as the complementary nature of natural time and culturally-determined time. After introducing some philosophical problems concerning the nature of time, it examines evidence for the proposition that time as a malleable and constructed concept was familiar within the everyday life of the Greek polis, through the plays of Aristophanes and publicly displayed inscriptions. The connections between time as mapped out on a recurring annual cycle through the calendar and historical time which spans the past of a place are also considered.
Kathleen Riley
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199534487
- eISBN:
- 9780191715945
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199534487.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter looks in detail at Robert Browning's poem Aristophanes' Apology (1875) and his transcription, within this, of Euripides' Herakles. Browning applies himself at length to the whole issue ...
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This chapter looks in detail at Robert Browning's poem Aristophanes' Apology (1875) and his transcription, within this, of Euripides' Herakles. Browning applies himself at length to the whole issue of Euripidean reception, both ancient and modern, and, as the coup de grâce in his defence of the playwright, he translates Herakles faithfully and in full. The play is deemed by Browning ‘the consummate Tragedy’ and ‘the perfect piece’ by which to ‘test true godship’. The chapter considers Browning's version of Herakles in relation to his very different translations of Alkestis and Agamemnon, and in terms of the Victorian translation debate.Less
This chapter looks in detail at Robert Browning's poem Aristophanes' Apology (1875) and his transcription, within this, of Euripides' Herakles. Browning applies himself at length to the whole issue of Euripidean reception, both ancient and modern, and, as the coup de grâce in his defence of the playwright, he translates Herakles faithfully and in full. The play is deemed by Browning ‘the consummate Tragedy’ and ‘the perfect piece’ by which to ‘test true godship’. The chapter considers Browning's version of Herakles in relation to his very different translations of Alkestis and Agamemnon, and in terms of the Victorian translation debate.
Frisbee C. C. Sheffield
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199286775
- eISBN:
- 9780191713194
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199286775.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
This chapter explores the relationship between Socrates and his predecessors, and gives a significant philosophical role to all the speeches of the dialogue. It argues that Socrates' speech is ...
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This chapter explores the relationship between Socrates and his predecessors, and gives a significant philosophical role to all the speeches of the dialogue. It argues that Socrates' speech is continuous with his predecessors, and completes and resolves some of the issues raised in the previous speeches. In this way, the previous speeches can be compared to Aristotelian endoxa. The contrast between Socrates and his predecessors also exemplifies the contrast between the two sorts of lovers described in the lower and higher mysteries of Socrates' speech. Reading the speeches in light of this contrast provides a further reason to think that the previous speeches are for the sake of our philosophical education, in much the same way as the lower mysteries were taught to Socrates for the sake of the higher. The philosophy of the Symposium, in other words, is extended throughout the dialogue and is not limited to Socrates'speech.Less
This chapter explores the relationship between Socrates and his predecessors, and gives a significant philosophical role to all the speeches of the dialogue. It argues that Socrates' speech is continuous with his predecessors, and completes and resolves some of the issues raised in the previous speeches. In this way, the previous speeches can be compared to Aristotelian endoxa. The contrast between Socrates and his predecessors also exemplifies the contrast between the two sorts of lovers described in the lower and higher mysteries of Socrates' speech. Reading the speeches in light of this contrast provides a further reason to think that the previous speeches are for the sake of our philosophical education, in much the same way as the lower mysteries were taught to Socrates for the sake of the higher. The philosophy of the Symposium, in other words, is extended throughout the dialogue and is not limited to Socrates'speech.
Alan H. Sommerstein
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199554195
- eISBN:
- 9780191720604
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554195.003.0012
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter argues that neither Aristophanes, nor his creation Lysistrata, can reasonably be regarded as a pacifist, or even as an unconditional advocate of ending the current war against Sparta. ...
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This chapter argues that neither Aristophanes, nor his creation Lysistrata, can reasonably be regarded as a pacifist, or even as an unconditional advocate of ending the current war against Sparta. Lysistrata herself uses violence and the infliction of pain to achieve her ends; every reference made by her or her supporters to wars against enemies other than Sparta is a favourable one (as is typical of Aristophanes); and the peace terms she makes with Sparta would have been utterly, and obviously, unattainable for a democratic Athens in early 411 bc, as is virtually admitted within the play itself. The play transports the audience into a dream world where, with divine aid, the impossible is achieved. There is no sign, here or elsewhere, that Aristophanes would have accepted, let alone advocated, any peace that did not leave Athens free to maintain her empire.Less
This chapter argues that neither Aristophanes, nor his creation Lysistrata, can reasonably be regarded as a pacifist, or even as an unconditional advocate of ending the current war against Sparta. Lysistrata herself uses violence and the infliction of pain to achieve her ends; every reference made by her or her supporters to wars against enemies other than Sparta is a favourable one (as is typical of Aristophanes); and the peace terms she makes with Sparta would have been utterly, and obviously, unattainable for a democratic Athens in early 411 bc, as is virtually admitted within the play itself. The play transports the audience into a dream world where, with divine aid, the impossible is achieved. There is no sign, here or elsewhere, that Aristophanes would have accepted, let alone advocated, any peace that did not leave Athens free to maintain her empire.
A. P. David
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199292400
- eISBN:
- 9780191711855
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199292400.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
A fresh interpretation of ‘όξύς’ and ‘βαρύς’ underpins a new theory of the ancient Greek accent, applying W. Sidney Allen’s observation that there must have been in Greek a down-glide in pitch, ...
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A fresh interpretation of ‘όξύς’ and ‘βαρύς’ underpins a new theory of the ancient Greek accent, applying W. Sidney Allen’s observation that there must have been in Greek a down-glide in pitch, cognate with the Vedic svarita, in addition to the rise whose vowel mora is marked by the received written system of signs devised by Aristophanes of Byzantium. The diachronic analysis is confirmed by Allen’s separate discovery of a pattern of stress in Greek, whose rules predict the same places of accentual prominence as the new theory; by modern synchronic descriptions of the Greek tonal phenomena; and by the fact that the contextual dominance of the svarita proposed for Greek also helps formulate a law that corresponds to the received rules for Latin prosody. Various loci antiqui, including disputed passages from Plato’s Timaeus, are seen in some cases to be inconsistent with received interpretations, but always consistent with the new theory.Less
A fresh interpretation of ‘όξύς’ and ‘βαρύς’ underpins a new theory of the ancient Greek accent, applying W. Sidney Allen’s observation that there must have been in Greek a down-glide in pitch, cognate with the Vedic svarita, in addition to the rise whose vowel mora is marked by the received written system of signs devised by Aristophanes of Byzantium. The diachronic analysis is confirmed by Allen’s separate discovery of a pattern of stress in Greek, whose rules predict the same places of accentual prominence as the new theory; by modern synchronic descriptions of the Greek tonal phenomena; and by the fact that the contextual dominance of the svarita proposed for Greek also helps formulate a law that corresponds to the received rules for Latin prosody. Various loci antiqui, including disputed passages from Plato’s Timaeus, are seen in some cases to be inconsistent with received interpretations, but always consistent with the new theory.
Ralph M. Rosen
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195309966
- eISBN:
- 9780199789443
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309966.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter is concerned with how satiric genres of poetry distinguished “blamers” from targets, and how poets enlisted the sympathies of their audiences. The main focus is on the Thersites of ...
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This chapter is concerned with how satiric genres of poetry distinguished “blamers” from targets, and how poets enlisted the sympathies of their audiences. The main focus is on the Thersites of Homer, Iliad 2 who is often regarded as a kind of “proto-satirist”. This chapter, however, urges a more nuanced approach to this formulation: by comparing the Iliadic portrait of Thersites (where Thersites is portrayed as having been justifiably punished) to the stories about his death at the hands of Achilles (a patently unjust act) found in other sources, it argues that the Iliadic Thersites is conceptualized by Homer more as a “target” than an actual satirist. Comparanda discussed in this chapter include Aristophanes' Knights and Aesopic fable.Less
This chapter is concerned with how satiric genres of poetry distinguished “blamers” from targets, and how poets enlisted the sympathies of their audiences. The main focus is on the Thersites of Homer, Iliad 2 who is often regarded as a kind of “proto-satirist”. This chapter, however, urges a more nuanced approach to this formulation: by comparing the Iliadic portrait of Thersites (where Thersites is portrayed as having been justifiably punished) to the stories about his death at the hands of Achilles (a patently unjust act) found in other sources, it argues that the Iliadic Thersites is conceptualized by Homer more as a “target” than an actual satirist. Comparanda discussed in this chapter include Aristophanes' Knights and Aesopic fable.
Kenneth Dover
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199245475
- eISBN:
- 9780191714993
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199245475.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter establishes the range of evaluative strategies found in Greek comedy and then concentrates on an explicit lexical evaluation in comedy. It argues that it would be easy to understand why ...
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This chapter establishes the range of evaluative strategies found in Greek comedy and then concentrates on an explicit lexical evaluation in comedy. It argues that it would be easy to understand why the language of Aristophanes abstains from the use of the ‘basic’ obscene metaphor in reproaching stupidity and unpleasantness if it also abstained from (1) the metaphorical use of ‘deviant’ obscenity and (2) the use of both basic and deviant obscene words in their literal meanings. However, those conditions are not fulfilled, leaving something that resembles an ecological niche inexplicably unoccupied.Less
This chapter establishes the range of evaluative strategies found in Greek comedy and then concentrates on an explicit lexical evaluation in comedy. It argues that it would be easy to understand why the language of Aristophanes abstains from the use of the ‘basic’ obscene metaphor in reproaching stupidity and unpleasantness if it also abstained from (1) the metaphorical use of ‘deviant’ obscenity and (2) the use of both basic and deviant obscene words in their literal meanings. However, those conditions are not fulfilled, leaving something that resembles an ecological niche inexplicably unoccupied.
Simon R. Slings
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199245475
- eISBN:
- 9780191714993
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199245475.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter illustrates some of the problems that arise when we try to separate literary and non-literary language. It argues that a figure of speech such as chiasmus (and similarly anaphora) is a ...
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This chapter illustrates some of the problems that arise when we try to separate literary and non-literary language. It argues that a figure of speech such as chiasmus (and similarly anaphora) is a natural (or universal) means to package complex information. As long as it fulfils this primary aim, a chiasmus is therefore not a literary embellishment. If, on the other hand, the information complexity is minor so that the chiasmus is functionally ‘unnecessary’, the addressee will perceive it as a literary figure. Most of the Aristophanic examples of chiasmus and anaphora are not ‘justified’ by an excessive information complexity, leading to the conclusion that Aristophanes' style is in this respect more literate than oral.Less
This chapter illustrates some of the problems that arise when we try to separate literary and non-literary language. It argues that a figure of speech such as chiasmus (and similarly anaphora) is a natural (or universal) means to package complex information. As long as it fulfils this primary aim, a chiasmus is therefore not a literary embellishment. If, on the other hand, the information complexity is minor so that the chiasmus is functionally ‘unnecessary’, the addressee will perceive it as a literary figure. Most of the Aristophanic examples of chiasmus and anaphora are not ‘justified’ by an excessive information complexity, leading to the conclusion that Aristophanes' style is in this respect more literate than oral.
Cathy Gutierrez
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195388350
- eISBN:
- 9780199866472
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195388350.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The creation of a white-collar class in America brought with it changes in demographic patterns, particularly where romance was concerned. No longer largely economic, marriage became increasingly ...
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The creation of a white-collar class in America brought with it changes in demographic patterns, particularly where romance was concerned. No longer largely economic, marriage became increasingly seen as an emotional and romantic fulfillment of human needs. Spiritualists agreed that love was of utmost importance but recognized that many unhappy marriages resulted in women and children caught in impossible situations. Spiritualists advocated an eternal love between soul mates but fought for reform of marriage and divorce law at the same time. True love was understood using Aristophanes’ portrayal of the primal androgynous unit from Plato’s Symposium—love gathered the halves of bodies as well as souls. At the fringes of the movement were sex radicals and free-love adherents like Victoria Woodhull who called for dramatic legal reform in both marriage and eugenics.Less
The creation of a white-collar class in America brought with it changes in demographic patterns, particularly where romance was concerned. No longer largely economic, marriage became increasingly seen as an emotional and romantic fulfillment of human needs. Spiritualists agreed that love was of utmost importance but recognized that many unhappy marriages resulted in women and children caught in impossible situations. Spiritualists advocated an eternal love between soul mates but fought for reform of marriage and divorce law at the same time. True love was understood using Aristophanes’ portrayal of the primal androgynous unit from Plato’s Symposium—love gathered the halves of bodies as well as souls. At the fringes of the movement were sex radicals and free-love adherents like Victoria Woodhull who called for dramatic legal reform in both marriage and eugenics.
René Nünlist
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199245475
- eISBN:
- 9780191714993
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199245475.003.0010
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter describes the dramatic use of speech within speech in Menander's comedies. It begins with a historical review that stretches from Homer down to Hellenistic literature, then considers the ...
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This chapter describes the dramatic use of speech within speech in Menander's comedies. It begins with a historical review that stretches from Homer down to Hellenistic literature, then considers the specific role ‘speech within speech’ takes on in New Comedy. By distinguishing factual and imagined quoted speech, it shows that Menander's usage is closer to that of Euripides than to that of Aristophanes even though the absolute frequency of quoted speech is comparable in all three authors.Less
This chapter describes the dramatic use of speech within speech in Menander's comedies. It begins with a historical review that stretches from Homer down to Hellenistic literature, then considers the specific role ‘speech within speech’ takes on in New Comedy. By distinguishing factual and imagined quoted speech, it shows that Menander's usage is closer to that of Euripides than to that of Aristophanes even though the absolute frequency of quoted speech is comparable in all three authors.
Alan H. Sommerstein
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199554195
- eISBN:
- 9780191720604
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554195.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book brings together fourteen studies on Aristophanes and his fellow comic dramatists, some of which have not previously appeared in print while others were published (between 1980 and 2005) in ...
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This book brings together fourteen studies on Aristophanes and his fellow comic dramatists, some of which have not previously appeared in print while others were published (between 1980 and 2005) in out-of-the-way journals, collections, or conference volumes. They appear here as originally written, but are accompanied by updating addenda. They cover a wide range of topics—the nature and functions of comedy in Aristophanes' time, its connections with the society and politics of its day, the question of Aristophanes' own political stances, the light comedy can throw on classical Athenians' perception of basic social divisions (age, gender, citizen/alien, free/slave), comedy's exploitation of the expressive resources of the Greek language, the composition and production history of individual plays, and the history of the genre as a whole. Aristophanes comes across as a poet committed to the spirit of seeking enjoyment for oneself and others, as inclusively as possible, believing that nothing was beyond imagination, that no one was contemptible save those who chose to make themselves so, that everything which could be seen, felt and experienced was of interest and could generate happiness through laughter, that we are what our past has made us, but that our nature also impels us to reach out for an ideal future.Less
This book brings together fourteen studies on Aristophanes and his fellow comic dramatists, some of which have not previously appeared in print while others were published (between 1980 and 2005) in out-of-the-way journals, collections, or conference volumes. They appear here as originally written, but are accompanied by updating addenda. They cover a wide range of topics—the nature and functions of comedy in Aristophanes' time, its connections with the society and politics of its day, the question of Aristophanes' own political stances, the light comedy can throw on classical Athenians' perception of basic social divisions (age, gender, citizen/alien, free/slave), comedy's exploitation of the expressive resources of the Greek language, the composition and production history of individual plays, and the history of the genre as a whole. Aristophanes comes across as a poet committed to the spirit of seeking enjoyment for oneself and others, as inclusively as possible, believing that nothing was beyond imagination, that no one was contemptible save those who chose to make themselves so, that everything which could be seen, felt and experienced was of interest and could generate happiness through laughter, that we are what our past has made us, but that our nature also impels us to reach out for an ideal future.
Emmanuela Bakola
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199569359
- eISBN:
- 9780191722332
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199569359.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Cratinus, one of the great lost poets of fifth-century Athenian comedy and a canonical author of the classical world, had a formative influence on the comic genre, including Aristophanes himself. In ...
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Cratinus, one of the great lost poets of fifth-century Athenian comedy and a canonical author of the classical world, had a formative influence on the comic genre, including Aristophanes himself. In what is the first major monograph in the best part of a century devoted to this author, Emmanuela Bakola offers a modern, comprehensive overview of Cratinus and his position within the genre of Greek comedy using a methodologically innovative approach. Unlike traditional ways of addressing fragmentary drama, this book does not merely reconstruct plays or texts, but by drawing on a range of hermeneutic frameworks, it adopts a thematic approach which allows her to explore Cratinus' poetics. Major issues which this book addresses include the creation of a poetic persona within a performative tradition of vigorous interpoetic rivalry; comedy's interaction with lyric poetry, iambos, and the literary-critical debates reflected by these genres; the play with the boundaries of the comic genre and the interaction with satyr drama and tragedy, especially Aeschylus; the multiple levels of comic plot-construction and characterization; comedy's reflection on its immediate political, social, and intellectual context; stagecraft and dramaturgy; comedy and ritual. Whilst being firmly based on principles of rigorous textual analysis, philology, and papyrology, by taking a broad and diverse outlook this study offers not just an insight into Cratinus, but a way of opening up and enriching our understanding of fifth-century Athenian comedy in a dynamic evolving environment.Less
Cratinus, one of the great lost poets of fifth-century Athenian comedy and a canonical author of the classical world, had a formative influence on the comic genre, including Aristophanes himself. In what is the first major monograph in the best part of a century devoted to this author, Emmanuela Bakola offers a modern, comprehensive overview of Cratinus and his position within the genre of Greek comedy using a methodologically innovative approach. Unlike traditional ways of addressing fragmentary drama, this book does not merely reconstruct plays or texts, but by drawing on a range of hermeneutic frameworks, it adopts a thematic approach which allows her to explore Cratinus' poetics. Major issues which this book addresses include the creation of a poetic persona within a performative tradition of vigorous interpoetic rivalry; comedy's interaction with lyric poetry, iambos, and the literary-critical debates reflected by these genres; the play with the boundaries of the comic genre and the interaction with satyr drama and tragedy, especially Aeschylus; the multiple levels of comic plot-construction and characterization; comedy's reflection on its immediate political, social, and intellectual context; stagecraft and dramaturgy; comedy and ritual. Whilst being firmly based on principles of rigorous textual analysis, philology, and papyrology, by taking a broad and diverse outlook this study offers not just an insight into Cratinus, but a way of opening up and enriching our understanding of fifth-century Athenian comedy in a dynamic evolving environment.
Alan H. Sommerstein
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199554195
- eISBN:
- 9780191720604
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554195.003.0010
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
In this chapter, originally a response to a symposium paper by Niall Slater, it is argued that ephebeia, a concept that had been endowed with great explanatory importance in some recent studies of ...
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In this chapter, originally a response to a symposium paper by Niall Slater, it is argued that ephebeia, a concept that had been endowed with great explanatory importance in some recent studies of Athenian drama, did not exist as an institution in 5th-century Athens under that or any other name; for if it did, the silence of our sources about this alleged institution is deafening and inexplicable. The transition to adulthood was indeed a process that intensely interested fifth-century Athenians, but it was seen as an event in life, not in ritual. In Wasps, Bdelycleon tries and fails to enable his father to make this transition, and only Dionysus proves truly capable of healing the old man's ‘sickness’. Dionysus and wine act as restorers of social health in many other comedies by Aristophanes, Cratinus, and Menander.Less
In this chapter, originally a response to a symposium paper by Niall Slater, it is argued that ephebeia, a concept that had been endowed with great explanatory importance in some recent studies of Athenian drama, did not exist as an institution in 5th-century Athens under that or any other name; for if it did, the silence of our sources about this alleged institution is deafening and inexplicable. The transition to adulthood was indeed a process that intensely interested fifth-century Athenians, but it was seen as an event in life, not in ritual. In Wasps, Bdelycleon tries and fails to enable his father to make this transition, and only Dionysus proves truly capable of healing the old man's ‘sickness’. Dionysus and wine act as restorers of social health in many other comedies by Aristophanes, Cratinus, and Menander.
Alan H. Sommerstein
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199554195
- eISBN:
- 9780191720604
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554195.003.0011
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter argues that Aristophanes' plays present, at least by implication, a twofold model of an alternative political system. One is an alternative democracy, envisaged as a practical ...
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This chapter argues that Aristophanes' plays present, at least by implication, a twofold model of an alternative political system. One is an alternative democracy, envisaged as a practical possibility, in which the Demos escapes from the influence of self-interested demagogues. It will abolish or drastically curtail public pay, except for the army and navy; it will rigorously repress sykophancy; it will reject leaders of low social status in favour of the well-born and well-educated; and it will seek peace with Sparta—all in reality key planks of an anti-democratic programme. The other is a fantasy alternative to democracy, in which the comic hero(ine) becomes an absolute monarch—but this never involves a male Athenian lording it over other male Athenians.Less
This chapter argues that Aristophanes' plays present, at least by implication, a twofold model of an alternative political system. One is an alternative democracy, envisaged as a practical possibility, in which the Demos escapes from the influence of self-interested demagogues. It will abolish or drastically curtail public pay, except for the army and navy; it will rigorously repress sykophancy; it will reject leaders of low social status in favour of the well-born and well-educated; and it will seek peace with Sparta—all in reality key planks of an anti-democratic programme. The other is a fantasy alternative to democracy, in which the comic hero(ine) becomes an absolute monarch—but this never involves a male Athenian lording it over other male Athenians.
Alan H. Sommerstein
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199554195
- eISBN:
- 9780191720604
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554195.003.0013
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter explores the ways in which women, in Aristophanes' Lysistrata and Ecclesiazusae, use nudity, obscene language, and obscene gesture to assert their independence of, and power over, men. ...
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This chapter explores the ways in which women, in Aristophanes' Lysistrata and Ecclesiazusae, use nudity, obscene language, and obscene gesture to assert their independence of, and power over, men. The women's chorus in Lysistrata are ‘stage-naked’ for some 300 lines; earlier in the play, other women had pointedly used obscene words and gestures; and later, the mute nude Reconciliation, unlike every other Aristophanic figure of her kind, is used to exercise control over men, offering to take them by the penis not to pleasure them but to drag them to the peace table. There is a series of similar phenomena in Ecclesiazusae too, culminating in an apparent nude dancing duet by two young women who must logically be, and be seen to be, of citizen status.Less
This chapter explores the ways in which women, in Aristophanes' Lysistrata and Ecclesiazusae, use nudity, obscene language, and obscene gesture to assert their independence of, and power over, men. The women's chorus in Lysistrata are ‘stage-naked’ for some 300 lines; earlier in the play, other women had pointedly used obscene words and gestures; and later, the mute nude Reconciliation, unlike every other Aristophanic figure of her kind, is used to exercise control over men, offering to take them by the penis not to pleasure them but to drag them to the peace table. There is a series of similar phenomena in Ecclesiazusae too, culminating in an apparent nude dancing duet by two young women who must logically be, and be seen to be, of citizen status.
Alan H. Sommerstein
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199554195
- eISBN:
- 9780191720604
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554195.003.0014
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
In this chapter it is argued that ancient notices about honours given to Aristophanes for his advice in the parabasis of Frogs are shown by their language to be based on an authentic state decree; ...
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In this chapter it is argued that ancient notices about honours given to Aristophanes for his advice in the parabasis of Frogs are shown by their language to be based on an authentic state decree; that this decree was probably passed in late 405 bc, and the play restaged at the Lenaia of 404; and that such timing would fit suspiciously well with the oligarchic plot against Kleophon, the person most strongly attacked in the play. The textually controversial passage 1433–68 is analysed and argued to be a conflation of versions from the first and second productions; once these are disentangled, each proves to be complete and correctly sequenced. The passage 1442–50, inserted for the second production, significantly underlines the political message of the parabasis.Less
In this chapter it is argued that ancient notices about honours given to Aristophanes for his advice in the parabasis of Frogs are shown by their language to be based on an authentic state decree; that this decree was probably passed in late 405 bc, and the play restaged at the Lenaia of 404; and that such timing would fit suspiciously well with the oligarchic plot against Kleophon, the person most strongly attacked in the play. The textually controversial passage 1433–68 is analysed and argued to be a conflation of versions from the first and second productions; once these are disentangled, each proves to be complete and correctly sequenced. The passage 1442–50, inserted for the second production, significantly underlines the political message of the parabasis.
Alan H. Sommerstein
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199554195
- eISBN:
- 9780191720604
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554195.003.0015
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter examines some muddled statements by the 3rd- or 4th-century writer Platonios about the history of Athenian comedy, with the object of explaining how he was led to make the gross factual ...
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This chapter examines some muddled statements by the 3rd- or 4th-century writer Platonios about the history of Athenian comedy, with the object of explaining how he was led to make the gross factual errors they contain, especially the statement that Aristophanes' Aiolosikon and Kratinos' Odyssês had no choral songs. In the case of Aiolosikon it is likely that versions of the text existed which, like our manuscripts of the contemporary Wealth, lacked all or most of the lyrics, and Platonios or his source may have been misled by these; as for Odyssês, the source may have confused this with the Odysseus of Theopompus (actually cited as Odyssês by Pollux). These passages of Platonios cannot, therefore, safely be used as evidence for anything about Kratinos' play, not even for the proposition (consistent with the surviving fragments) that it contained no personal satire.Less
This chapter examines some muddled statements by the 3rd- or 4th-century writer Platonios about the history of Athenian comedy, with the object of explaining how he was led to make the gross factual errors they contain, especially the statement that Aristophanes' Aiolosikon and Kratinos' Odyssês had no choral songs. In the case of Aiolosikon it is likely that versions of the text existed which, like our manuscripts of the contemporary Wealth, lacked all or most of the lyrics, and Platonios or his source may have been misled by these; as for Odyssês, the source may have confused this with the Odysseus of Theopompus (actually cited as Odyssês by Pollux). These passages of Platonios cannot, therefore, safely be used as evidence for anything about Kratinos' play, not even for the proposition (consistent with the surviving fragments) that it contained no personal satire.
