Proquest Dissertations

COMIC SOPHOI: ARISTOPHANES' INTELLECTUAL FIGURES by Megan Leigh Falconer Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia September 2010 © Copyright by Megan Leigh Falconer, 2010 Library and Archives Bibliothèque et ?F? Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 OttawaONK1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-69793-1 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-69793-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privée, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont été enlevés de thesis. cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1*1 Canada DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY To comply with the Canadian Privacy Act the National Library of Canada has requested that the following pages be removed from this copy of the thesis: Preliminary Pages Examiners Signature Page (pji) Dalhousie Library Copyright Agreement (piii) Appendices Copyright Releases (if applicable) For my brothers: James, Matt, and Ben Falconer. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract vi List of Abbreviations vii Acknowledgements vi i i Chapter 1 : Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Socrates in the Clouds 4 Chapter 3: The Clever Poet: Aristophanes' Euripides 22 3.1 Euripides: From Acharnians to Frogs 24 3 . 1 . 1 Acharnions 27 3.1.2 Thesmophoriazusae 30 3.1.3 Frogs 37 Chapter 4: Conclusion 5 1 Bibliography 55 ? ABSTRACT This thesis looks at Aristophanes' characterization of Socrates and Euripides as members of the new intellectual movement in the late fifth century. By examining his portrayal of Socrates and Euripides, this discussion argues that Aristophanes uses these two characters to voice his concerns about the sophistic movement, especially their influence over the demos in Athens. Aristophanes compares the traditional and the new approaches to morality and education, and while he criticises both, the comic poet finds the traditional side much less objectionable. Finally, this discussion concludes that by criticising these figures, particularly Euripides, as participants in the new intellectual movement, Aristophanes assumes the didactic role he assigns to all poets in order to make the intellectual movement's effect on the proper functioning of the polis clear. Vl LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED The following abbreviations occur in the bibliography: AJP American Journal of Philology CI Classics Ireland CQ Classical Quarterly G&R Greece & Rome HPT History of Political Thought JHS Journal of Hellenic Studies PT Political Thought RP The Review of Politics RSQ Rhetorical Sciences Quarterly SAQ South Atlantic Quarterly TAPA Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe the entire Classics department at Dalhousie a debt of gratitude. In particular, my sincerest thanks go to my advisor, Leona MacLeod, and my readers, Peter O'Brien, and Eli Diamond for their advice and unending patience with this project. Donna Edwards also should be thanked for being a source of constant support as well as distraction. I also owe (Dr.) Emily Varto for sharing her wisdom and experience as well as feeding my often neglected craving for ancient history. My family and friends deserve my eternal gratitude for their support throughout this degree. I would especially like to thank my parents, Andrew Falconer and Joanne Falconer, for their uncomprehending but infinite support throughout this degree. My brothers, James, Matt, and Ben Falconer (sorry, guys, the order is chronological, not necessarily by preference) have been particularly crucial to retaining my sanity. Matt deserves special mention for reading over every single draft of every version of this thesis. James also warrants my gratitude since, in a fit of insanity, he moved to Halifax and dragged me away from my work. Deanna Foster, our future empress (all hail), has been responsible for many escapes from my thesis. Thank you for the many times you literally dragged me out of my office and into the real world if only for the duration of a coffee break. My favourite Ho, Krys, also deserves special mention for retaining our close friendship despite the rather large country between us. For the rest of the supportive crew, who are unmentioned but not forgotten (you know who you are): thank you. viii 1 Chapter 1: Introduction Old Comedy frequently mocks politicians, poets, and other well-known figures of the day. In the extant plays and fragments of Aristophanes, there are more than three hundred komodoumenoi ('those mocked in comedy').1 One of his favourite targets is the poet Euripides, who is mentioned in several plays and even appears as a dramatis persona in three. Another of Aristophanes' targets is the philosopher, Socrates, who plays a central role in the Clouds. While at first glance it might seem that the poet and the philosopher have little in common, Aristophanes provocatively connects the pair when he has the chorus of the Frogs tell Euripides: ?a??e? ??? µ? S????te? pa?a?a??µe??? ?a?e??, ap?ßa???ta µ??s???? ta te µ???sta pa?a??tt??ta t?? t?a???d???? t?????. t? d' ?tp seµ???s?? ?????s? ?a\ s?a??f?sµ??s? ????? d?at??ß?? a???? p??e?s?a?, pa?af??????t?? a?d??? {Frogs, 1491-1499). It is best to not sit beside Socrates while the greatest gifts of the Muses, the tragic art, goes to waste. To compose idle chatter with meaningless words is the mark of a man going mad. Despite this explicit connection, most critics have treated these two figures separately. Yet when we look at precisely what his criticisms of Euripides and Socrates are, we see that they both reflect the problems posed by the new critical thinking introduced by the sophistic movement in the late fifth century. 1 Storey 1998: 85-134. 2 The sophists, who serve as representatives of the most significant intellectual developments of the fifth century, are thinkers who traveled between the Greek poleis, trading private instruction for money. Topics they taught include language, communication, and rhetoric, skills necessary to become an apt orator or politician. They are also credited with scepticism and relativism. Critics of the sophists often accuse them of teaching men to turn the hetton logos (weaker argument) into the kreiton logos (stronger argument) of any debate, thereby making the ability to persuade more valuable than truth. They debunk the sophists' use of persuasion and relativistic morals and argue that these intellectuals undermine the stability of traditional beliefs and social norms. They also show the sophists selling their wisdom off to all comers for a fee, thus enabling anyone with money to buy their lessons on such potent skills.2 Since the sophists' own writings only exist as fragments, we must rely on the representation of them in the works of their contemporaries for our information on these thinkers. For instance, Aristophanes' association with these new intellectual figures is shown most clearly by his appearance in Plato's Symposium. Also, as a poet of the late fifth century, Aristophanes criticizes the intellectual movement in Athens with his comedies. This thesis examines Aristophanes' representation of the philosopher and the poet in his plays. The characters of Euripides and Socrates both take on sophistic traits in the comic poet's depiction of them. The first chapter will discuss the portrayal of Socrates as a sophist and an intellectual. The second will similarly analyze Aristophanes' portrayal of 2Kerferd 1981:25-27. 3 Euripides in the context of his sophistic tendencies and his role of poet-teacher to the polis (city-state). 4 Chapter 2: Socrates in the Clouds The portrayal of Socrates in the Clouds has sparked debate over which is a more realistic depiction of the Athenian philosopher: the philosopher who questions accepted truths, as shown by Plato or the intellectual quack, as Aristophanes portrays him. Comparing the two versions of this figure becomes problematic because of the differences between them. The comic Socrates is a combination of a stereotypical sophist and the pug-nosed philosopher whose physical appearance lent itself to comedy. In contrast, the Platonic Socrates has been deliberately separated from the sophists. Plato even depicts the philosopher questioning sophistic beliefs as well as the ones held by the average Athenian citizen. Aristophanes' Socrates teaches at a school for money, and has a wealth of knowledge on natural science, rhetoric, grammar, and metre. He is also willing to teach how to make the weaker argument appear the stronger in a debate for a fee.

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