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The Admonishing Muse: Ancient Interpretations of Personal Abuse in Old Comedy

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The Admonishing Muse: Ancient Interpretations of Personal Abuse in Old Comedy by Matthew D. Cohn A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Classical Studies) in the University of Michigan 2013 Doctoral Committee: Professor Richard Janko, Chair Associate Professor Basil Dufallo Professor Arlene Saxonhouse Associate Professor Francesca Schironi Copyright Matthew Cohn 2013 Acknowledgements At the end of a project such as this, I fear that I may not have the space and presence of mind to thank everyone who made it possible. I do know that I owe a great debt to my committee, Richard Janko, Francesca Schironi, Basil Dufallo, and Arlene Saxonhouse, who encouraged me even when this study turned to matters rather more obscure than originally advertised. Richard, who has been an inexhaustible source of knowledge and patience, especially deserves my thanks. I could never have undertaken this project without his guidance, and it would not have been half as good without his generous advice and careful reading. Thanks are due as well to the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Michigan, which has supported me intellectually and financially for over six years. Of the faculty who have taught me and challenged me, I would like to acknowledge the late Professor Traianos Gagos in particular, from whom I learned so much and who was taken from us too soon. My thanks also go to my friends and colleagues; I could not have asked for more stimulating and companionable peers. I owe an especial debt to Matt Newman, Jon Rowland, Emily Bembeneck, Michael McOsker, Nathan Bethell, Brianne Hawes, and Katherine Lu, and I can only hope that they have found my fellowship as rewarding as I have found theirs. My greatest debt is owed to my family: to my parents, who taught me that reading was a great good, and to Sowmia, who has somehow managed to be supportive and understanding for all these years while I have tread the air and contemplated the sun. ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................................... ii List of Figures ......................................................................................................................................................... v List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................................. vi Chapter 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1 §1.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 1 §1.2. Abusive Humor in Old Comedy ......................................................................................................................... 4 §1.3. The Ancient Reception of Old Comedy ............................................................................................................. 6 §1.4. The Present Study............................................................................................................................................. 8 Chapter 2. The Low Road: Mimesis, Personal Abuse, and Comedy in Aristotle's History of Drama ...................... 15 §2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 15 §2.2. Aristotle's History of Drama in the Poetics Book 1......................................................................................... 17 §2.3. The Modes of Analysis.................................................................................................................................... 18 §2.4. ψόγος and its Successors ............................................................................................................................... 28 §2.5. Aristotle's History of Poetry and Personal Abuse in Old Comedy ................................................................... 46 §2.6. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................... 54 Chapter 3. Punishing the Goat: Eratosthenes and Related Accounts of the History of Comedy and Personal Abuse ............................................................................................................................................................................ 62 §3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 62 §3.2. The Erigone and its Aition of Comedy ............................................................................................................ 64 §3.3. Abuse from the Wagons................................................................................................................................. 67 §3.4. The Parian Chronicle and Related Accounts ................................................................................................... 82 §3.5. A Kinship among Dithyramb, Comedy, and Satyr Play before Eratosthenes? ................................................ 97 §3.6. Successors to the Eratosthenic Account: An Alexandrian Approach to the History of Comedy? ................. 103 §3.7. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................... 116 Chapter 4. From Small Beginnings: Varro on the Origins of Comedy and Comic Abuse ...................................... 118 §4.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 118 §4.2. The Origin of Drama and Comedy in Vergil, Tibullus, Horace, and Livy ....................................................... 120 §4.3. Comedy and Abuse in the Grammarians ...................................................................................................... 132 iii §4.4. Varro's Model for the Development of Comedy and Its Abuse .................................................................... 151 §4.5. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................... 152 Chapter 5. Comic Abuse as Class Warfare: The Politicization of Comic Abuse in Histories of Comedy................ 155 §5.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 155 §5.2. Comic Abuse and the Demos in Athens ........................................................................................................ 156 §5.3. The Origins of Comedy and Class Warfare in Archaic Megara .................................................................... 163 §5.4. Politics and Histories of Comedy .................................................................................................................. 168 §5.5. Comic and Satiric Transformations in Horace .............................................................................................. 170 §5.6. Positive Narratives about the Origins of Comedy ........................................................................................ 180 §5.7. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................... 185 Chapter 6. The Admonishing Muse: Personal Abuse in Old Comedy and Satyr Play ........................................... 188 §6.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 188 §6.2. The Admonishing Muse ................................................................................................................................ 189 §6.3. Comedy and the Classical Satyr Play ............................................................................................................ 191 §6.4. Timocles and Post-Classical Satyr Play ......................................................................................................... 192 §6.5. Personal Abuse in Python's Agen ................................................................................................................. 198 §6.6. Lycophron's Menedemus ............................................................................................................................. 205 §6.7. Sositheus and Cleanthes .............................................................................................................................. 209 §6.8. Problems of Genre and Abuse ...................................................................................................................... 213 §6.9. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................... 221 Chapter 7. Fearsome Charms: Aesthetic and Ethical Evaluations of Old Comedy ............................................... 223 §7.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................
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