Extent of Comedy in Antiquity
"Comedy" in Greece divides into "Old Comedy" (referred to as OC below), and "New Comedy" (which is later than what we are studying).
OC began in 486 when the contest was initiated at the City Dionysia
ended in 388 when Aristophanes produced his last play
we know the names of 50 OC playwrights and titles of ca. 300 plays. About 600 must have been produced.
250 known authors of Attic comedy from 6c.BC-2c.AD
Athenaeus, a writer of the 2c. AD, claimed to have read 800 comedies from the years 400-325 BC alone
Origins of OC
from komos--a band of revelers who danced and sang
made fun of individuals--probably masked--called attention to problems under cover of partial anonymity and suggested how things ought to be
had a leader
in OC, the chorus is this komos and it still plays as a komos in that it drops its dramatic role in the parabasis and speaks directly to the audience as playwright or as group of citizens
the reveling was a time-out from regular life--like a carneval
Typical plot (drawn from Aristophanes, so some circular reasoning)
Athens is in a terrible bind
a hero comes up with a fantastic solution and the play is about his or her efforts to implement it
characters often divided into sympathetic/unsympathetic--Dicaeopolis v. Strepsiades--false division
the chorus (the demos) is initially hostile, but comes around (in the Clouds, the chorus is hostile to Strepsiades at first, then to the whole thinkery at the end)--that involved the poet trying to persuade the actual demos who attended the play (of what???)
Structure:
prologue--the actor(s) set out the topic and suggest the problem to be solved
parodos--entry of chorus
Agon--scene between chorus and actor(s)
Parabasis (sometimes 2)--the chorus changes and talks to the audience directly
episodes--actors--mixed with choral interludes
The Lenaia
Knights , Lysistrata?, Acharnians and Frogswas performed at the Lenaia
The City Dionysia
of Aristophanes' plays, Birds, Women at the Thesmophoria, and Clouds were performed at the City Dionysia
the judges were chosen at random from a preselected lot of men, on the day of the plays (to avoid bribery/influencing)
Aristophanes
He may have been born in 444 (Henderson puts it at 447/6), but that date rests on:
1)Scholiast to Frogs 501 says that Aristophanes was a meirakiskos when he wrote his first play, but that is an inference from Clouds 528ff--the evidence "cannot be pressed"
2) there is a meaningless number in the Suda entry (a 3932) which may be emended to produce a date of 444/3 for his first play, which is absurd, but the writer could have confused his birth date with his first play, and so perhaps we have a real date. But the number could have been reached by the Suda writer by calculating 40 years back from Aristophanes' supposed Acme.
Died probably between 386 and 380
Aristophanes wrote at least 40 plays, of which we have 11, the titles of the lost plays, nearly 1000 fragments,
Aristophanes began writing plays at an age when he was too young to produce them himself. See 1) above and Clouds 528ff.
Kallistratos produces his first three (Daitaleis "The Banqueters," Babylonians (City Dionysia), Acharnians (Lenaia, first prize)
We know next to nothing about the man Aristophanes, except that he was near bald.
prosecuted by a fellow demesman, Cleon, twice, for the Babylonians (426) and the Knights(424)
supposedly had four sons who were comic playwrights
his political and societal views seem to be:
1. nostalgia for the good old days of early democracy, when the Persians were defeated and the empire was being built
2. dismay at decadence, corruption and divisiveness of his day
3. hostility toward demagogues, the new leaders after Pericles died in the plague
4. dismay at current artistic and intellectual trends
Arist. divides citizens into good and bad men
good=rich, educated, become generals and policy makers
and farmers, workers, honest people of the demos
bad=upstarts, money from trade, paid people money from the till
the views aired are typically minority views and criticism of those in power
but no one was allowed to criticize of undermine DEMOCRACY or to disable an individual from participating--other slander was OK
HOW DO WE KNOW ARISTOPHANES' OWN VIEWS? IMPORTANT EVEN THOUGH OBVIOUS
Characterization:
What sort of man is Strepsiades?
a son of the soil, boorish, but rich! sought out by aristocrats for marriage, has no problem getting loans
Pheidippides?
865 and 1112--he observes filial obedience until after being thru the school 1399ff-cf. 102 and 119
not teenage rebellion, but rather nihilistic sangfroid--no emotional desperation etc.
Socrates? not head of a school in actuality, not a nature philosopher, no initiations or rites in actuality, no payment in actuality,
teaching of oratory emphasizes persuasion--to become a new Pericles, like Alcibiades, at the expense of substance--to emphasize persuasion leads quickly to questioning of old values/traditions--emphasizes rational thought over acceptance of tradition--so myth, and religion were put into question
The Chorus: what role do the Clouds play? How do they change and why?
concerns about family, education, science, debt,
Describe Aristophanes' characters:
1) What sort of people are they?
2) are they realistic? How?
3) does he use the same character in different plays?
Describe Aristophanes' Choruses:
1) Are they one character or many?
2) what advantages does having a chorus produce in drama?
3) What disadvantages?
4) Compare and contrast their roles in the three plays.
What sort of historical information can we glean from the plays?
political
social
artistic
What was sick about Greek society?
What sort of effect do you think such comedy has on:
political atmosphere?
social atmosphere?
Describe Aristophanes' sense of humor:
What modern dramatic forms does Aristophanes most closely resemble?
What subtle humor does he use?
Why is a fart funny?
What sort of sexual acts are ridiculed?
Would you recommend these plays to a friend?
Why?