DOCSLIB.ORG

Birds); and ‘Women on Top’ Plots (In the Thesmophoriazusae and Ecclesiazusae)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Birds); and ‘Women on Top’ Plots (In the Thesmophoriazusae and Ecclesiazusae) Defining the Comic Plot: Genre and Storytelling in Aristophanes Naomi Scott UCL Doctor of Philosophy in Classics 1 I, Naomi Scott, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 2 Abstract This dissertation examines the relationship between inter-generic interaction and plot structure in the plays of Aristophanes. Scholars have long observed that Athenian comedy engages with other poetic forms as part of its self-definition; however, studies have largely treated this as a highly localised phenomenon. By contrast, this thesis will argue that comedy’s sustained reflection on its own generic status informs the construction of plot. The dissertation focuses primarily but not exclusively on the text; I also seek to integrate a consideration of staging, costume, and other visual aspects of Old Comedy into the discussion, and to examine the plays not only as poetic texts but as enacted drama. The dissertation aims to show firstly, that inter-generic interactions are deeply embedded in the plot structures of Aristophanes’ plays; secondly, that these interactions are not exclusively parodic, but rather operate along a spectrum from the overtly antagonistic, to the merely contrastive and even incorporative; and thirdly, that sustained intergeneric engagement is not limited in Aristophanes to ‘high’ genres, such as tragedy and epic, but also encompasses ‘low’ discourses such as Aesopic fable. The dissertation suggests that Aristophanes’ plays display a marked interest in not only the formal differences between genres, in the form of their poetics, aesthetics, or cultural status; but also in the kinds of narratives and modes of storytelling which belong to, and define, different genres. This interest in narrative, plot, and storytelling is in turn self- reflexive, as the plays investigate their own generic status through the prism of their plots, and the kinds of stories which they tell. The dissertation argues that the plays make a series of incursions into modes of storytelling associated with genres other than comedy; and that these different modes are accordingly incorporated not only into the comic plot, but into an expanding and deeply competitive definition of what constitutes comic storytelling. Each of the three chapters examines a different sub-genre of comic plot, namely animal comedy (in the Wasps); mythic comedy (in Peace and Birds); and ‘women on top’ plots (in the Thesmophoriazusae and Ecclesiazusae). 3 All translations of Aristophanes are taken from Alan Sommerstein’s Aris & Phillips series (Aristophanes: Volumes 1-11). All other translations are taken from the relevant volume of the Loeb Classical Library, except where indicated. 4 Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 6 The Plays: Selection and Organisation................................................................................ 28 Scope of the Thesis: Politics and Genre .............................................................................. 29 Chapter Synopses ................................................................................................................ 31 Chapter One: Animal Comedy and the Wasps ................................................................... 36 Animal Choruses and the History of Comedy .................................................................... 37 Aesop and the Wasps ........................................................................................................... 43 Performing the Animal Kingdom: Philocleon and the Chorus ........................................... 55 The Trial of Labes the Dog ................................................................................................. 63 Dancing Crabs and the Wasps’ Grand Finale ...................................................................... 68 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 72 Chapter Two: Mythic Storytelling in the Peace and Birds ................................................ 75 Peace ................................................................................................................................... 85 Tragedy vs. Comedy; Failure vs. Success ..................................................................... 101 Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 112 Birds .................................................................................................................................. 113 Myth-Making in the Birds ............................................................................................. 113 Tragedy, Myth, and the Darker Side of the Birds’ Fictional World............................... 125 Staging the City: Space, Dramaturgy, and the Limits of Representation in the Birds .. 136 Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 144 Chapter Three: ‘Women On Top’ in the Thesmophoriazusae and Ecclesiazusae .......... 146 Thesmophoriazusae ........................................................................................................... 157 The Comic Frame: Implicating tragedy ........................................................................ 161 The Council of ‘Women’............................................................................................... 170 Euripides on Stage......................................................................................................... 178 Ecclesiazusae .................................................................................................................... 181 ‘Women on Top’ in the Ecclesiazusae........................................................................... 188 The Ecclesiazusae and the Subversion of Masculinity ................................................. 194 Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 204 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 207 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................ 212 5 Introduction This dissertation examines the relationship between storytelling and genre in the plays of Aristophanes. The dissertation suggests that Aristophanes’ plays display a marked interest in not only the boundaries and intersections between genres in terms of their poetics, aesthetics, or cultural status; but also in the kinds of narratives and modes of storytelling which belong to, and define, different genres, and particularly comedy. I argue that the plays make a series of incursions into modes of storytelling associated with genres other than comedy; and that these different modes are accordingly incorporated not only into the comic plot, but into an expanding definition of what constitutes comic storytelling. Recent scholarship on Old Comedy has rightly stressed the genre’s remarkable and persistent self-reflexivity. Comedy’s impulse towards self-examination is most obviously formalised in the self-referential parabasis, in which the chorus ‘step forward’1 to address the audience directly. Earlier scholarship often treated the parabasis as a digression, otherwise irrelevant to the plot and structure of the play, and theorised that it may have been the remnant of an older ritual tradition;2 or otherwise ignored it all together.3 In contrast to this earlier view, Thomas Hubbard’s 1991 monograph The Mask of Comedy: Aristophanes and the Intertextual Parabasis dismissed the argument that the parabasis was the fossil of an earlier cultic element of Old Comedy, and instead suggested that it should be seen as a central component of a play’s structure which, far from being a digression, is in fact integrated into the plot and themes of the play as a whole. Additionally, a series of important publications have argued that overt self-consciousness in Aristophanes is not limited to the parabasis, but rather that metapoetic and metatheatrical reflection is a consistent feature of the plays, and a fundamental characteristic of Old Comedy as a genre. Among the most notable publications 1. Cf. Sifakis 1971: 62-66 for a discussion of the exact meaning of the verb παραβαίνειν, and the act of ‘stepping forward’ in the parabasis. 2. Cf. for example Murray 1933, Cornford 1934. The arguments against this view of the parabasis are outlined in Hubbard 1991: 23-7. 3. Note in particular that Whitman’s highly influential 1964 monograph, Aristophanes and the Comic Hero, contains almost no discussion of the plays’ parabases. 6 on this topic is Niall Slater’s 2002 book Spectator Politics: Metatheatre and Performance in Aristophanes, which argues that metatheatricality is not only a core element of comedy’s aesthetics, but is (in Aristophanes at least) tied to the plays’ function as an act of political discourse embedded in and actively engaged with the institutions and operation of the Athenian state; and Zachary Biles’ 2001 book Aristophanes and the Poetics of Competition, which argues that the plays make constant reference to their agonistic context,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Conditions of Dramatic Production to the Death of Aeschylus Hammond, N G L Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Winter 1972; 13, 4; Proquest Pg
    The Conditions of Dramatic Production to the Death of Aeschylus Hammond, N G L Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Winter 1972; 13, 4; ProQuest pg. 387 The Conditions of Dramatic Production to the Death of Aeschylus N. G. L. Hammond TUDENTS of ancient history sometimes fall into the error of read­ Sing their history backwards. They assume that the features of a fully developed institution were already there in its earliest form. Something similar seems to have happened recently in the study of the early Attic theatre. Thus T. B. L. Webster introduces his excellent list of monuments illustrating tragedy and satyr-play with the following sentences: "Nothing, except the remains of the old Dionysos temple, helps us to envisage the earliest tragic background. The references to the plays of Aeschylus are to the lines of the Loeb edition. I am most grateful to G. S. Kirk, H. D. F. Kitto, D. W. Lucas, F. H. Sandbach, B. A. Sparkes and Homer Thompson for their criticisms, which have contributed greatly to the final form of this article. The students of the Classical Society at Bristol produce a Greek play each year, and on one occasion they combined with the boys of Bristol Grammar School and the Cathedral School to produce Aeschylus' Oresteia; they have made me think about the problems of staging. The following abbreviations are used: AAG: The Athenian Agora, a Guide to the Excavation and Museum! (Athens 1962). ARNon, Conventions: P. D. Arnott, Greek Scenic Conventions in the Fifth Century B.C. (Oxford 1962). BIEBER, History: M. Bieber, The History of the Greek and Roman Theatre2 (Princeton 1961).
    [Show full text]
  • Beauty on Display Plato and the Concept of the Kalon
    BEAUTY ON DISPLAY PLATO AND THE CONCEPT OF THE KALON JONATHAN FINE Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2018 © 2018 Jonathan Fine All rights reserved ABSTRACT BEAUTY ON DISPLAY: PLATO AND THE CONCEPT OF THE KALON JONATHAN FINE A central concept for Plato is the kalon – often translated as the beautiful, fine, admirable, or noble. This dissertation shows that only by prioritizing dimensions of beauty in the concept can we understand the nature, use, and insights of the kalon in Plato. The concept of the kalon organizes aspirations to appear and be admired as beautiful for one’s virtue. We may consider beauty superficial and concern for it vain – but what if it were also indispensable to living well? By analyzing how Plato uses the concept of the kalon to contest cultural practices of shame and honour regulated by ideals of beauty, we come to see not only the tensions within the concept but also how attractions to beauty steer, but can subvert, our attempts to live well. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ii 1 Coordinating the Kalon: A Critical Introduction 1 1 The Kalon and the Dominant Approach 2 2 A Conceptual Problem 10 3 Overview 24 2 Beauty, Shame, and the Appearance of Virtue 29 1 Our Ancient Contemporaries 29 2 The Cultural Imagination 34 3 Spirit and the Social Dimension of the Kalon 55 4 Before the Eyes of Others 82 3 Glory, Grief, and the Problem of Achilles 100 1 A Tragic Worldview 103 2 The Heroic Ideal 110 3 Disgracing Achilles 125 4 Putting Poikilia in its Place 135 1 Some Ambivalences 135 2 The Aesthetics of Poikilia 138 3 The Taste of Democracy 148 4 Lovers of Sights and Sounds 173 5 The Possibility of Wonder 182 5 The Guise of the Beautiful 188 1 A Psychological Distinction 190 2 From Disinterested Admiration to Agency 202 3 The Opacity of Love 212 4 Looking Good? 218 Bibliography 234 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “To do philosophy is to explore one’s own temperament,” Iris Murdoch suggested at the outset of “Of ‘God’ and ‘Good’”.
    [Show full text]
  • The Nature of Hellenistic Domestic Sculpture in Its Cultural and Spatial Contexts
    THE NATURE OF HELLENISTIC DOMESTIC SCULPTURE IN ITS CULTURAL AND SPATIAL CONTEXTS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Craig I. Hardiman, B.Comm., B.A., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2005 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Dr. Mark D. Fullerton, Advisor Dr. Timothy J. McNiven _______________________________ Advisor Dr. Stephen V. Tracy Graduate Program in the History of Art Copyright by Craig I. Hardiman 2005 ABSTRACT This dissertation marks the first synthetic and contextual analysis of domestic sculpture for the whole of the Hellenistic period (323 BCE – 31 BCE). Prior to this study, Hellenistic domestic sculpture had been examined from a broadly literary perspective or had been the focus of smaller regional or site-specific studies. Rather than taking any one approach, this dissertation examines both the literary testimonia and the material record in order to develop as full a picture as possible for the location, function and meaning(s) of these pieces. The study begins with a reconsideration of the literary evidence. The testimonia deal chiefly with the residences of the Hellenistic kings and their conspicuous displays of wealth in the most public rooms in the home, namely courtyards and dining rooms. Following this, the material evidence from the Greek mainland and Asia Minor is considered. The general evidence supports the literary testimonia’s location for these sculptures. In addition, several individual examples offer insights into the sophistication of domestic decorative programs among the Greeks, something usually associated with the Romans.
    [Show full text]
  • Herodotus, Xerxes and the Persian Wars IAN PLANT, DEPARTMENT of ANCIENT HISTORY
    Herodotus, Xerxes and the Persian Wars IAN PLANT, DEPARTMENT OF ANCIENT HISTORY Xerxes: Xerxes’ tomb at Naqsh-i-Rustam Herodotus: 2nd century AD: found in Egypt. A Roman copy of a Greek original from the first half of the 4th century BC. Met. Museum New York 91.8 History looking at the evidence • Our understanding of the past filtered through our present • What happened? • Why did it happen? • How can we know? • Key focus is on information • Critical collection of information (what is relevant?) • Critical evaluation of information (what is reliable?) • Critical questioning of information (what questions need to be asked?) • These are essential transferable skills in the Information Age • Let’s look at some examples from Herodotus’ history of the Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC • Is the evidence from: ― Primary sources: original sources; close to origin of information. ― Secondary sources: sources which cite, comment on or build upon primary sources. ― Tertiary source: cites only secondary sources; does not look at primary sources. • Is it the evidence : ― Reliable; relevant ― Have I analysed it critically? Herodotus: the problem… Succession of Xerxes 7.3 While Darius delayed making his decision [about his successor], it chanced that at this time Demaratus son of Ariston had come up to Susa, in voluntary exile from Lacedaemonia after he had lost the kingship of Sparta. [2] Learning of the contention between the sons of Darius, this man, as the story goes, came and advised Xerxes to add this to what he said: that he had been born when Darius was already king and ruler of Persia, but Artobazanes when Darius was yet a subject; [3] therefore it was neither reasonable nor just that anyone should have the royal privilege before him.
    [Show full text]
  • Marathon 2,500 Years Edited by Christopher Carey & Michael Edwards
    MARATHON 2,500 YEARS EDITED BY CHRISTOPHER CAREY & MICHAEL EDWARDS INSTITUTE OF CLASSICAL STUDIES SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON MARATHON – 2,500 YEARS BULLETIN OF THE INSTITUTE OF CLASSICAL STUDIES SUPPLEMENT 124 DIRECTOR & GENERAL EDITOR: JOHN NORTH DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS: RICHARD SIMPSON MARATHON – 2,500 YEARS PROCEEDINGS OF THE MARATHON CONFERENCE 2010 EDITED BY CHRISTOPHER CAREY & MICHAEL EDWARDS INSTITUTE OF CLASSICAL STUDIES SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON 2013 The cover image shows Persian warriors at Ishtar Gate, from before the fourth century BC. Pergamon Museum/Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin. Photo Mohammed Shamma (2003). Used under CC‐BY terms. All rights reserved. This PDF edition published in 2019 First published in print in 2013 This book is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0) license. More information regarding CC licenses is available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Available to download free at http://www.humanities-digital-library.org ISBN: 978-1-905670-81-9 (2019 PDF edition) DOI: 10.14296/1019.9781905670819 ISBN: 978-1-905670-52-9 (2013 paperback edition) ©2013 Institute of Classical Studies, University of London The right of contributors to be identified as the authors of the work published here has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Designed and typeset at the Institute of Classical Studies TABLE OF CONTENTS Introductory note 1 P. J. Rhodes The battle of Marathon and modern scholarship 3 Christopher Pelling Herodotus’ Marathon 23 Peter Krentz Marathon and the development of the exclusive hoplite phalanx 35 Andrej Petrovic The battle of Marathon in pre-Herodotean sources: on Marathon verse-inscriptions (IG I3 503/504; Seg Lvi 430) 45 V.
    [Show full text]
  • 9/15 JEFFREY JAMES HENDERSON William Goodwin Aurelio Professor
    9/15 JEFFREY JAMES HENDERSON William Goodwin Aurelio Professor of Greek Language and Literature General Editor, Loeb Classical Library Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences Department of Classical Studies 460 Park Drive Boston University Boston, MA 02215 745 Commonwealth Avenue, Rm. 435 (857) 250-4216 Boston, MA 02215 (617) 358-5072 or 2427 email: [email protected] EDUCATION PhD 1972 Harvard University MA 1970 Harvard University BA 1968 Kenyon College (summa cum laude) POSITIONS HELD Visiting Professor Spring 2010 Brown University Aurelio Professor of Greek 2002-- Boston University Dean of Arts and Sciences 2002-07 Boston University Professor and Chair 1991-2002 Boston University Visiting Professor 1986 Univ. California at Los Angeles Professor 1986-91 Univ. Southern California Associate Professor 1983-86 Univ. Southern California Visiting Professor 1982-83 Univ. Southern California Associate Professor 1978-82 Univ. of Michigan (Ann Arbor) Assistant Professor 1972-78 Yale University ACADEMIC HONORS Kenyon College Highest Honors in Classics Brain Prize in Classics Essay Prize in English Phi Beta Kappa Harvard Univ. Bowdoin Prize in Latin Prose Composition PRIZES AND HONORS Raubenheimer Distinguished Faculty Award (1991) University of Southern California Doctor of Humane Letters (1994) Kenyon College Charles J. Goodwin Award of Merit (2002) American Philological Association Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences elected 2011 eProduct/Best in Humanities (2015) for digital LCL American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly
    [Show full text]
  • Aspects of the Demeter/Persephone Myth in Modern Fiction
    Aspects of the Demeter/Persephone myth in modern fiction Janet Catherine Mary Kay Thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy (Ancient Cultures) at the University of Stellenbosch Supervisor: Dr Sjarlene Thom December 2006 I, the undersigned, hereby declare that the work contained in this thesis is my own original work and that I have not previously in its entirety or in part submitted it at any university for a degree. Signature: ………………………… Date: ……………… 2 THE DEMETER/PERSEPHONE MYTH IN MODERN FICTION TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE 1. Introduction: The Demeter/Persephone Myth in Modern Fiction 4 1.1 Theories for Interpreting the Myth 7 2. The Demeter/Persephone Myth 13 2.1 Synopsis of the Demeter/Persephone Myth 13 2.2 Commentary on the Demeter/Persephone Myth 16 2.3 Interpretations of the Demeter/Persephone Myth, Based on Various 27 Theories 3. A Fantasy Novel for Teenagers: Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood 38 by Meredith Ann Pierce 3.1 Brown Hannah – Winter 40 3.2 Green Hannah – Spring 54 3.3 Golden Hannah – Summer 60 3.4 Russet Hannah – Autumn 67 4. Two Modern Novels for Adults 72 4.1 The novel: Chocolat by Joanne Harris 73 4.2 The novel: House of Women by Lynn Freed 90 5. Conclusion 108 5.1 Comparative Analysis of Identified Motifs in the Myth 110 References 145 3 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The question that this thesis aims to examine is how the motifs of the myth of Demeter and Persephone have been perpetuated in three modern works of fiction, which are Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood by Meredith Ann Pierce, Chocolat by Joanne Harris and House of Women by Lynn Freed.
    [Show full text]
  • Appropriate Eating: the Mediterranean Diet in Homer's Odyssey
    114 APPROPRIATE EATING: THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET IN HOMER’S ODYSSEY Appropriate Eatng: The Mediterranean Diet in Homer’s Odyssey Jonathan Stefen as any of Homer’s more famous scenes. For The Odyssey is not Jonathan Stefen Limited, Cambridge, United Kingdom just about adventuring. It is not just about homecoming. It is, in a profound way, about eating. More than this: it is about a journey fom inappropriate to appropriate eating. “ There is no boon in life more sweet, I say, The above-quoted lines are addressed by Odysseus, King than when a summer joy holds all the realm, of Ithaka, to King Alkínoös of Phaiákia, during the course of a and banqueters sit listening to a harper banquet at the hall of Alkínoös. The Phaiákian king has given in a great hall, by rows of tables heaped Odysseus temporary refge as the Greek warrior makes his tor- with bread and roast meat, while a steward goes tuous way home fom the Trojan War, persecuted at every turn to dip up wine and brim your cups again.”1 by Poseidon, god of the sea. Odysseus’s words are spoken just before he is about to recount the tale of his wanderings so far: At a frst glance, these six lines fom Homer’s Odyssey lack appar- they represent a brief moment of respite, as Odysseus refects ent drama. They do not possess the epic tension that character- on the dangers of a journey that is far fom fnished. And they izes so many of the Ancient Greek poem’s more famous passages are spoken, crucially, within the context of organized eating and – the scene of Odysseus bound to the mast and listening to the drinking.
    [Show full text]
  • The Odd Thesmophoria of Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusae Habash, Martha Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Spring 1997; 38, 1; Proquest Pg
    The odd Thesmophoria of Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusae Habash, Martha Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Spring 1997; 38, 1; ProQuest pg. 19 The Odd Thesmophoria of Aristophanes' Thesmophoriaz usae Martha Habash EXPECTED FROM THE TITLE, Aristophanes' Thesmophoria­ zusae does in fact concern the Thesmophoria, that A:. annual, secret women's festival of Demeter and Kore held thoughout the Greek world. From line 277 the play is set at a Thesmophoria, but a very odd Thesmophoria, in which the poet demonstrates his bold, inventive, and creative genius at work in reshaping this 'festival'.1 Aristophanes employs suf­ ficient elements of the real Thesmophoria to make the pro­ ceedings recognizable, but he also adds as major components several non-Thesmophoric elements, introduced in part for sheer comic effect, and in part, I shall argue, to shape his Thes­ mophoria and his play into a form more arpropriate to the civic and religious purposes and atmosphere 0 the festival in which it was presented, the City Dionysia.2 I For studies of the poet's presentation of genuine Thesmophoric elements and themes, see H. Hansen, U Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusae: Theme, Struc­ ture, and Production," Philologus 120 (1976) 165-85; A. Bowie, Aristophanes: Myth, Ritual and Comedy (Cambridge 1993); the role of mimesis in this play: F. Zeitlin, uTravesties of Gender and Genre in Aristophanes' Thesmo­ phoriazousae, " in H. Foley, ed., Reflections of Women in Antiquity (New York 1981) 169-217; M. DETIENNE, MThe Violence of Wellborn Ladies: Women in the Thesmophoria," in M. Detienne and J.-P. Vernant. edd., The Cuisine of Sacrifice among the Greeks, tr.
    [Show full text]
  • Studies in Early Mediterranean Poetics and Cosmology
    The Ruins of Paradise: Studies in Early Mediterranean Poetics and Cosmology by Matthew M. Newman A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Classical Studies) in the University of Michigan 2015 Doctoral Committee: Professor Richard Janko, Chair Professor Sara L. Ahbel-Rappe Professor Gary M. Beckman Associate Professor Benjamin W. Fortson Professor Ruth S. Scodel Bind us in time, O Seasons clear, and awe. O minstrel galleons of Carib fire, Bequeath us to no earthly shore until Is answered in the vortex of our grave The seal’s wide spindrift gaze toward paradise. (from Hart Crane’s Voyages, II) For Mom and Dad ii Acknowledgments I fear that what follows this preface will appear quite like one of the disorderly monsters it investigates. But should you find anything in this work compelling on account of its being lucid, know that I am not responsible. Not long ago, you see, I was brought up on charges of obscurantisme, although the only “terroristic” aspects of it were self- directed—“Vous avez mal compris; vous êtes idiot.”1 But I’ve been rehabilitated, or perhaps, like Aphrodite in Iliad 5 (if you buy my reading), habilitated for the first time, to the joys of clearer prose. My committee is responsible for this, especially my chair Richard Janko and he who first intervened, Benjamin Fortson. I thank them. If something in here should appear refined, again this is likely owing to the good taste of my committee. And if something should appear peculiarly sensitive, empathic even, then it was the humanity of my committee that enabled, or at least amplified, this, too.
    [Show full text]
  • The Frogs 2K4: Showdown in Hades
    SCRIPT The Frogs 2K4: Showdown in Hades Directed by Kerri Rambow XANTHIAS: Man, do you think I should say one of those Martin Lawrence lines to entertain these bougie people? I could make them laugh just like the movies. DIONYSUS: Sure. Say anything you want, except of course, something like, "Oh these bags! Oh my back!" And don’t talk about my momma. XANTHIAS: But that’s funny! Don’t you want me to do my job? DIONYSUS: Whatever! Stop using my issues as your lines--"Dionysus’ mom is so old, she farts dust." That’s really not funny. XANTHIAS: Well it’s funny to the audience, and no one else is having any problems with it. DIONYSUS: Oh yeah, did I mention you also can’t say "My blisters! My blisters on my blisters! My blisters in places you don’t want to know. Oh! Oh! Oh! Can’t you at least wait until I’m dead and gone? XANTHIAS: But by then no one would think it was funny. Just this one last time, until I get new lines... DIONYSUS: How about "NO"? If I was there in the audience your jokes would make me grow old. XANTHIAS: Well, this play is supposed to be a comedy. What if I told the joke about the chicken, and the guy with the chicken, and...and he made a chicken with... DIONYSUS: (To audience) That joke is really old. Older than my mother. (To Xanthias) Go on! Tell them! Just don’t...don’t... XANTHIAS: Don’t do what? DIONYSUS: Don’t drop my shoes.
    [Show full text]
  • Memory and the Rhetoric of Soteria in Aristophanes' Assembly
    Histos Supplement ( ) – MEMORY AND THE RHETORIC OF ΣΩΤΗΡΙΑ IN ARISTOPHANES’ ASSEMBLY WOMEN * Rob Tordoff Abstract : This paper presents a historicising reading of Aristophanes’ Assembly Women in the context of Athenian politics in 0 /. Aristophanes’ thematic engagement with memory and the rhetoric of σωτηρία (‘safety’, ‘preservation’, ‘salvation’) is a case study of ideological struggle over language in the politics of democratic Athens. The word evokes a long and tumultuous history of revolution in Athens stretching back to 9, when Athenian democracy first voted itself out of existence, as the assembly does in Assembly Women . Read from this perspective, Assembly Women is hardly less topical than Aristophanes’ fifth-century plays. On the contrary, history, memory, and the past were centrally topical in Athenian politics in late 0 s Athens, and all may be illuminated by an integrated study of the contemporary evidence of comedy, oratory, and historiography. Introduction n Assembly Women the assembly that Praxagora persuades to hand over power to the women of Athens Iis convoked for the purpose of debating the ‘ sôtêria ’ of the city; so too was the assembly summoned to Kolonos in 9, the assembly that gathered after the battle of Elateia in * I would like to thank Emily Baragwanath and Edith Foster for the invitation to present the paper on which this essay is based at a conference panel at the meeting of CAMWS in Iowa City, for the opportunity to contribute an essay to this collection, and for their historical and editorial expertise and advice. Thanks are due also to the anonymous reader, whose suggestions improved a number of aspects of my work.
    [Show full text]