Sex, Lies, and Politics: the Comedies of Aristophanes Continuing Studies, Spring Quarter 2013 Barbara Clayton

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Sex, Lies, and Politics: the Comedies of Aristophanes Continuing Studies, Spring Quarter 2013 Barbara Clayton Course Goals: • To ‘laugh’ with the ancient Greeks, i.e. to understand why Aristophanes was the most popular comic playwright of his day • To appreciate the way in which these plays are literary masterpieces that have withstood the test of time • To acquire an understanding of the trajectory of ancient Greek comedy, from the “Old Comedy” of Aristophanes and his contemporaries in the 5th century BCE, to the “New Comedy” which replaced it in the 4th century BCE Schedule of Weekly Texts and Topics: Week 1: Introduction to ancient Greek comedy Comedy vs. the comic Who was Aristophanes? Political and historical context for his plays The dramatic festivals: production and performance Week 2: Wasps The Athenian jury system The quintessential comic hero: a bad dad? World of the city (polis) vs. world of the individual (oikos) Week 3: Clouds Socrates and the sophists Fathers and sons (again) Why clouds? Week 4: Birds Utopian visions Reconsidering the individual and his community Nature and culture Week 5: Lysistrata A comic heroine: bringing gender into the mix Aristophanes and the Peloponnesian War Capitalizing on sex Week 6: Women at the Thesmophoria More gender-bending Making fun of Euripides Aristophanes and “metatheater” Week 7: Assemblywomen Gender-bending continued: if women ran the world Post-war political changes in Athens A new kind of utopian vision? Week 8: Menander and New Comedy The face of comedy after Aristophanes Where did the politics go, and why? Recapping where we’ve been: the legacy of Aristophanes Grading: No Grade Requested: This is the default. C/NC: You must provide evidence that you have attended class (to the best of your ability) and read the assigned material. My suggestion is that you submit a brief reader’s response a/o question or two on a weekly basis, either via email or handed to me in class. Choose a passage that resonates with you—one that you find particularly beautiful, or intriguing, or perplexing—and tell me why. All students are encouraged to do this, whether or not you are taking the course for credit. Letter Grade: A 5-6 page paper on a topic of your choosing. .

Copy Link

Recommended publications

Module-9 Background Prose Readings COMEDY and TRAGEDY
Module-9 Background Prose Readings COMEDY AND TRAGEDY What is comedy? The word ‘Comedy’ has been derived the French word comdie, which in turn is taken from the Greeco-Latin word Comedia. The word comedia is made of two words komos, which means revel and aeidein means to sing. According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, comedy means a branch of drama, which deals with everyday life and humourous events. It also means a play of light and amusing type of theatre. Comedy may be defined as a play with a happy ending. Function of Comedy Though, there are many functions of comedy, yet the most important and visible function of comedy is to provide entertainment to the readers. The reader is forced to laugh at the follies of various characters in the comedy. Thus, he feels jubilant and forgets the humdrum life. George Meredith, in his Idea of Comedy, is of the view that comedy appeals to the intelligence unadulterated and unassuming, and targets our heads. In other words, comedy is an artificial play and its main function is to focus attention on what ails the world. Comedy is critical, but in its scourge of folly and vice. There is no contempt or anger in a comedy. He is also of the view that the laughter of a comedy is impersonal, polite and very near to a smile. Comedy exposes and ridicules stupidity and immorality, but without the wrath of the reformer. Kinds of Comedy 1. Classical Comedy Classical comedy is a kind of comedy, wherein the author follows the classical rules of ancient Greek and Roman writers.
[Show full text]
Teknophagy and Tragicomedy: the Mythic Burlesques of Tereus and Thyestes
This is a repository copy of Teknophagy and Tragicomedy: The Mythic Burlesques of Tereus and Thyestes. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/126374/ Version: Accepted Version Article: Haley, M orcid.org/0000-0002-7697-3568 (2018) Teknophagy and Tragicomedy: The Mythic Burlesques of Tereus and Thyestes. Ramus, 47 (2). pp. 152-173. ISSN 0048-671X https://doi.org/10.1017/rmu.2018.12 © Ramus 2019. This article has been published in a revised form in Ramus: https://doi.org/10.1017/rmu.2018.12. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Ramus Submission 2017 Teknophagy and Tragicomedy: The Mythic Burlesques of Tereus and Thyestes Teknophagy (τεκνοφαγία), or child-eating, is an apt subject for tragedy.
[Show full text]
Slaves, Sex, and Transgression in Greek Old Comedy
Slaves, Sex, and Transgression in Greek Old Comedy By Daniel Christopher Walin A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Classics in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Mark Griffith, Chair Professor Donald J. Mastronarde Professor Kathleen McCarthy Professor Emily Mackil Spring 2012 1 Abstract Slaves, Sex, and Transgression in Greek Old Comedy by Daniel Christopher Walin Doctor of Philosophy in Classics University of California, Berkeley Professor Mark Griffith, Chair This dissertation examines the often surprising role of the slave characters of Greek Old Comedy in sexual humor, building on work I began in my 2009 Classical Quarterly article ("An Aristophanic Slave: Peace 819–1126"). The slave characters of New and Roman comedy have long been the subject of productive scholarly interest; slave characters in Old Comedy, by contrast, have received relatively little attention (the sole extensive study being Stefanis 1980). Yet a closer look at the ancestors of the later, more familiar comic slaves offers new perspectives on Greek attitudes toward sex and social status, as well as what an Athenian audience expected from and enjoyed in Old Comedy. Moreover, my arguments about how to read several passages involving slave characters, if accepted, will have larger implications for our interpretation of individual plays. The first chapter sets the stage for the discussion of "sexually presumptive" slave characters by treating the idea of sexual relations between slaves and free women in Greek literature generally and Old Comedy in particular. I first examine the various (non-comic) treatments of this theme in Greek historiography, then its exploitation for comic effect in the fifth mimiamb of Herodas and in Machon's Chreiai.
[Show full text]
The Reflection of Ancient Greek and Roman Theaters in Today's Culture
International Journal of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences Studies Volume 5 Issue 7 ǁ July 2020 ISSN: 2582-1601 www.ijahss.com The Reflection Of Ancient Greek And Roman Theaters In 1 Today’s Culture Of Humor Tahsin Emre FIRAT Dr., Atatürk University, ORCID Numbers: 0000-0002-7384-2853 Abstract: Today’s humor culture substantially originates from theatrical genres which had displayed during the ancient period. Tragedy, comedy and satire examples which had come to the forefront in the Roman and Greek cultures during the ancient era give clues about the cultural structure of the era. These theatrical genres containing solemnity, satire, sarcasm and irony reflect tragic and humorous elements of the Ancient Roman and Greek culture. Fabula Crepidata / tragoedia, Fabula Praetexta (ta), Fabula Palliata /comoedia, Fabula Togata / tabernaria, Fabula Atellana, Mimus / planipes and Pantomimus are among the examples of the Ancient Roman and Greek theatrical culture. This study which will examine the aforementioned theatrical genres of the ancient period consists of a literature review. This study investigates the above-mentioned theatrical genres and their relation to today’s culture of humor, with a focus on the historical transformation of performance-based culture of humor. Keywords: Humor, satire, ancient theatre. I. Introduction Ancient Greek and Rome are the civilizations where the theatrical culture and thus humor were appreciated immensely. Dionysus carnivals and Aristophanes comedies emerged in these cultures. In this context, it is necessary to consider theatrical genres that were displayed during the Ancient Greek and Roman era in order to interpret the verbal humor culture and its relationship with drama.
[Show full text]
Comedy in Greek Theatre
International Journal of Research in Social Sciences Vol. 9 Issue 2, Feb 2019, ISSN: 2249-2496 Impact Factor: 7.081 Journal Homepage: http://www.ijmra.us, Email: [email protected] Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories Indexed & Listed at: Ulrich's Periodicals Directory ©, U.S.A., Open J-Gate as well as in Cabell’s Directories of Publishing Opportunities, U.S.A COMEDY IN GREEK THEATRE Prof. Dr.Nilesh P. Sathvara (M.A., Ph.D.) ShriH.K.Arts College, Ahmedabad – Gujarat (India) Abstract Ancient Greek comedy was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece (the others being tragedy and the satyr play). Athenian comedy is conventionally divided into three periods, Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, and New Comedy. Old Comedy survives today largely in the form of the eleven surviving plays of Aristophanes, while Middle Comedy is largely lost, ie preserved only in relatively short fragments by authors such as Athenaeus of Naucratis New Comedy is known primarily from the substantial papyrus fragments of Menander. Ancient Greek comedy was a popular and influential form of theatre performed across ancient Greece from the 6th century BCE. The most famous playwrights of the genre were Aristophanes and Menander and their works, and those of their contemporaries, poked fun at politicians, philosophers, and fellow artists. In addition to maintaining their comic touch, the plays also give an indirect but invaluable insight into Greek Society in general and provide details on the workings of political institutions, legal systems, religious practices, education, and warfare in the Hellenic world, Uniquely, the plays also reveal to us something of the identity of the audience and show just what tickled the Greeks' sense of humour.
[Show full text]
The Ancient Greek Comedy on the Modern Greek Stage
Aristophanes through Lysistrata: The Ancient Greek Comedy on the Modern Greek stage Kaiti Diamantakou – Agathou Associate Professor University of Athens Notwithstanding the unquestionable popularity of the hybrid and liminal Plutus for the survival and revival of Aristophanes in Greece and throughout the world,1 it was another Aristophanic comedy that became associated with the most important and the most profound social, aesthetic and ideological turning points in the reception of Aristophanes by the modern Greek scene up to the present day. The play in question is Lysistrata of 411 BC, a typical “political comedy” of the classical era largely neglected in the scriptorial, publishing and theatrical tradition,2 but also the one which has enjoyed the widest –and continuously increasing– international appeal since the beginning of the 20th century, as women’s emancipation has been constantly gaining ground in a world still ravaged by wars, civil or otherwise. 3 If in the politically correct Plutus Aristophanes “became the most productive and adaptable personality of the classical and recent Greek heritage” 4, in the unorthodox Lysistrata –in which profanity, contemporary political satire, and gender relations and reversals abound– the comic poet tested the adaptability and resilience of his specific idiom in different historical and theatrical settings, inviting artists from every age to give their own answers –well-grounded or not, but always dynamic– to the challenging questions that recur in the treatment of his work and of its component parts. Αristophanes’ exclusion and post-war total recall Already in the beginning of the 20th century the interest of critics and the broad audience was focused on the male-dominated performances of Assemby women in the Nea Skini (New Scene) of Constantinos Christomanos (August 1904) and of Lysistrata in the Municipal Theatre of Athens (January 1905), both translated by Polyvios Dimitrakopoulos.
[Show full text]
Theopompus' Homer
Haverford College Haverford Scholarship Faculty Publications Classics 2020 Theopompus’ Homer: Paraepic in Old and Middle Comedy Matthew C. Farmer Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.haverford.edu/classics_facpubs THEOPOMPUS’ HOMER: PARAEPIC IN OLD AND MIDDLE COMEDY MATTHEW C. FARMER T IS A STRIKING FACT that, out of the twenty titles preserved for the late fifth- and early fourth-century comic poet Theopompus, three directly reference I Homer’s Odyssey: Odysseus, Penelope, and Sirens. In one fragment (F 34) preserved without title but probably belonging to one of these plays, Odysseus himself is the speaking character; he quotes the text of the Odyssey, approv- ingly.1 Another fragment (F 31), evidently drawn from a comedy with a more contemporary focus, mocks a politician in a run of Homeric hexameters. Theo- pompus was, it seems, a comic poet with a strong interest in paraepic comedy, that is, in comedy that generates its humor by parodying, quoting, or referring to Homeric epic poetry. In composing paraepic comedy, Theopompus was operating within a long tra- dition. Among the earliest known Homeric parodies, Hipponax provides our first certain example, a fragment in which the poet invokes the muse and deploys Homeric language to mock a glutton (F 128). The Margites, a poem composed in a mixture of hexameters and trimeters recounting the story of a certain fool in marked Homeric language, may have been composed as early as the seventh cen- tury BCE, but was certainly known in Athens by the fifth or fourth.2 In the late
[Show full text]
The Greeks and the Utopia: an Overview Through Ancient Greek
Revista Espaço Acadêmico, nº 97, junho de 2009 http://periodicos.uem.br/ojs/index.php/EspacoAcademico/index The Greeks and the Utopia: an overview through ancient Greek Literature * Rosanna Lauriola ** Introduction The ideal of a perfect life characterized by harmony both among men and between men and nature, apart from evil and sickness, immune to old age and even to death, a world so perfect that does not exist and/or could not, in the end, be realized: these ideals are widespread in almost all of the world cultures, and they constantly appear through times since the beginning of human history. When the present life does not satisfy one’s expectations, when the present conditions seem to worsen more and more, it is common to dream of another life and of another world that are not simply ‘other’ than the present, but also – and foremost – a perfection of the present. This ‘other’ and ‘perfect’ life is usually located in a different time and/or different place 1. As to time, the model of a happy and perfect life is usually projected to the primordial phase of human existence, the so-called “Golden Age”, such an age that may be nostalgically recalled with and without the auspicious feeling of its rebirth 2. As to place, the same model is usually located in a distant, unknown – or completely imaginary – area, often at the borders of the known world. The huge distance in terms of location between the unsatisfying real world and the ‘other’ world tends to confer fantastic traits to the latter, or, still better, traits of which one can just dream in the present, unsatisfying world.
[Show full text]
Two Ancient Ethnographic Notes from Drama
Durham E-Theses Social memory and ethnic identity: ancient Greek drama performances as commemorative ceremonies Lalioti, Vassiliki How to cite: Lalioti, Vassiliki (2001) Social memory and ethnic identity: ancient Greek drama performances as commemorative ceremonies, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3850/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Social Memory and Ethnic Identity: Ancient Greek Drama Performance§ a§ Commemorative Ceremonies Vassiliki Lalioti Submitted for Ph.D. Degree 2001 ABSTRACT This thesis is an ethnographic account of ancient Greek drama performances that take place in contemporary Greece. It illuminates an aspect of them that has not been taken into account until today: it treats them as commemorative ceremonies that produce, reproduce, and transmit social memory. The interrelation and interdependence between social memory and ethnic identity construction processes are analysed and it is shown that ancient drama performances, due to specific characteristics, constitute something more than mere theatrical events (as they are defined within the Western tradition).
[Show full text]
Kidd CV 2019 Shortened for Website
STEPHEN E. KIDD Associate Professor of Classics Brown University [email protected] EMPLOYMENT - Associate Professor (tenured), Brown University, 2019-present - Robert Gale Noyes Assistant Professor, Brown University, 2016-19 - Assistant Professor, Brown University, 2012-19 - Visiting Assistant Professor (Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter), Humboldt University in Berlin, 2011-12 EDUCATION - Ph.D., New York University (2006-2011) - Dissertation: Nonsense and Laughter in Greek Comedy (D. Sider, Director) - B.A., Classics (summa cum laude), Washington University in St. Louis (1998-2002) MONOGRAPHS - Play and Aesthetics in Ancient Greece, Cambridge University Press (2019) - Nonsense and Meaning in Ancient Greek Comedy, Cambridge University Press (2014) Reviews: E. Medda (2017) Gnomon 89.3: 195-99; S. Nooter (2016) Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2016.11.53; D. Olson (2016) Mnemosyne 69.3: 531-33; J. Robson (2015) Journal of Hellenic Studies 196-7; I. Ruffell (2015) Classical World 109.1: 142-44; M. Heath (2015) Greece & Rome 62.1: 93-4 ARTICLES - 2019: ‘Why Mathematical Probability Failed to Emerge from Ancient Gambling’ in Apeiron - 2018: ‘Sound: An Aristotelian Perspective’ in Sound and the Ancient Senses, S. Butler and S. Nooter, eds. Routledge: 79-91 - 2017: ‘How to Gamble in Greek: The Meaning of Kubeia’ in Journal of Hellenic Studies 137: 119-134 - 2017: ‘Greek Dicing, Astragaloi, and the “Euripides” Throw’ in Journal of Hellenic Studies 137: 112-118 - 2017: ‘Nonsense in Comic Scholia’ in Classical Quarterly 67.2: 507-21 - 2017: ‘Toys as Mimetic Objects: A Problem from Plato’s Laws’ in Aisthesis 10.1: 97-105 - 2017: ‘Pente Grammai and the “Holy Line”’ in Board Game Studies Journal 11: 83-99 - 2017: ‘Play in the Ancient Novel’ in American Journal of Play 9.3: 356-73 - 2016: ‘Play in Aristotle’ in Classical Philology 111: 353-71 - 2016: ‘Epitasis and Anesis in Aristotle, De Caelo 2.6’ in Phronesis 61.1.
[Show full text]
Fiske Wordpower
New_Fiske Final 5/10/06 9:14 AM Page 1 Raise A POWERFUL VOCABULARY WILL OPEN UP Your THE MOST EFFECTIVE SYSTEM FOR BUILDING A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY Word IQ A VOCABULARY THAT GETS RESULTS FAST With Fiske WordPower you will quickly learn to write FISKE more effectively, communicate clearly, score higher Raise Your W Learn on standardized tests like the SAT, ACT or GRE Word IQ 1,000 Words and be more confident and persuasive in everything in Weeks you do. OR FISKE Using the exclusive Fiske system, you will no longer need to memorize words.You will learn their meanings and how to use them correctly. The Fiske system will enhance and expand your permanent vocabulary. This knowledge will stay with you longer and be easier to recall—and it doesn’t take any longer than less-effective memorization. D Fiske WordPower uses a simple three-part system: WORD 1. Patterns: Words aren’t arranged randomly or alphabetically, but in P similar groups that make words easier to remember over time. 2. Deeper Meanings, More Examples: Full explanations—not just brief definitions—of what the words mean, plus multiple examples of OW the words in sentences. POWER 3. Quick Quizzes: Frequent short quizzes help you test how much you’ve learned, while helping you retain word meanings. words you need to know (and can 1,0001,000 learn quickly) to: ✔ Build a powerful and persuasive vocabulary Fiske WordPower— E ✔ The MOST EFFECTIVE vocabulary-building Raise your word IQ ✔ Communicate clearly and effectively system that GETS RESULTS FAST. R ✔ Improve your writing skills ✔ Dramatically increase your reading comprehension Study Aids $11.95 U.S.
[Show full text]
Classical Greek Comedy
Chapter 8: Early Greek Comedy and Satyr Plays Mark Damen (2012) !I. Introduction: An Overview of Classical and Post- Classical Greek Comedy Though comedy in the broadest sense of the term—any kind of humorous material—is at least as old as Greek civilization, historical evidence suggests dramatic comedy first arose in or just before the Classical Age. Like tragedy, ancient Greek komoidia, the word from which we get "comedy," eventually found a home at the Dionysia, though it achieved official status only significantly later than its close theatrical kin. The data further suggest this so-called Old Comedy was probably not the first form of comic drama performed at the Dionysia. Instead, pre-classical playwrights were composing short humorous "satyr plays" featuring boisterous bands of lusty, mischievous woodland spirits called satyrs. During the Classical Age, satyr plays followed the presentation of tragic trilogies, making them the oldest form of comic drama extant. If slower to rise than the satyr play, Old Comedy eventually gained attention and acclaim—and finally pre-eminence—by the end of the fifth century. Indeed, the first writer of this genre whose works are preserved entire is Aristophanes, a late classical comic poet whose plays, like Old Comedy in general, are raucous and political, closely tied to current affairs. He often satirizes Athenian politicians and public figures with ribald wit, usually proposing wild and extravagant solutions, both serious and satirical, to a wide range of problems confronting society in his day: everything from tactics for ending the Peloponnesian War to tips on keeping the devilish Euripides Source URL: http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/ClasDram/chapters/081earlygkcom.htm Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/ENGL401#2.1.1 Attributed to: Mark Damen www.saylor.org Page 1 of 23 in line.
[Show full text]