Gods on the Comic Stage Rachel Frances Dowe Bachelor of Arts (Honours) A thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2018 School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry ABSTRACT The gods of Aristophanes share many of the vices of mortals, while his comedies make fun of their worship. It is striking that the old comic poets could depict the gods in such a sacrilegious matter, because the Athenians, outside of the theatre of Dionysus, certainly prosecuted individuals who engaged in such sacrilege or otherwise promoted unconventional religious beliefs. This thesis carefully studies Aristophanes’ depiction of the gods as well as how it confirms or distorts conventional religious beliefs. While Bowie (1993) is a seminal study of the rituals that served as a background to old comedy, only a small amount of work has been done on this genre’s depiction of gods and humanity’s relationship with them. This thesis argues that the festival license that the old comic poets enjoyed extended to the divine realm. Their sacrilegious treatment of gods was thus part of the aischrologia that was usually directed at prominent citizens. While good work has certainly been done on festival license, the sacrilegious dimension of it has hardly been explored. This thesis also shows how, in depicting the gods, Aristophanes relied on the conventional religious beliefs of theatregoers. The result was, paradoxically, that old comedy consistently confirmed such popular beliefs rather than encouraging their abandonment. The impiety present on the comic stage was also moderated by the genre’s implicit acknowledgement of divine power. This argument will be established through a close-examination of Aristophanes’ Peace, Birds, Wealth and Frogs. ii DECLARATION BY AUTHOR This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, financial support and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my higher degree by research candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the policy and procedures of The University of Queensland, the thesis be made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 unless a period of embargo has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis and have sought permission from co-authors for any jointly authored works included in the thesis. iii Publications included in this thesis No publications included Submitted manuscripts included in this thesis No manuscripts submitted for publication Other publications during candidature No other publications Contributions by others to the thesis No contributions by others Statement of parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award of another degree None Research involving human or animal subjects No animal or human subjects were involved in this research iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. David Pritchard, for his tireless support and invaluable advice over the last few years. I am profoundly grateful for your unfailing patience and continuous encouragement throughout the process of writing this thesis. I would also like to extend my gratitude to my secondary supervisor, Dr. Amelia Brown, who was always willing to provide feedback when I needed it, and always knew the answers to any vague questions I had on Greek religion. I would also like to acknowledge the invaluable advice and assistance of Judy King, who endured my constant queries and requests over the years. I am sincerely grateful for the amount of paperwork you filled out for me during my candidature. I would also like to acknowledge the feedback and suggestions from everyone on my research throughout the years. Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my parents, friends and fellow RHD students, for their continuous support throughout my study, and for acting as a sounding board whenever I needed to vent. Without all of the support given to me during this time, this thesis would not have been possible. v Financial support This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship Keywords aristophanes, old comedy, greek religion, impiety, festival license, classical athens, aves, eirene, plutus, ranae Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classifications (ANZSRC) ANZSRC code: 210306 Classical Greek and Roman History, 100% Fields of Research (FoR) Classification FoR code: 2103 Historical Studies, 100% vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................... ii DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................ v ABBREVIATIONS AND TRANSLATIONS ............................................................................................. ix CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Literature Review ....................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Festival License .......................................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Mocking the Gods in Homer .................................................................................................... 11 1.5 Popular Religion ....................................................................................................................... 13 1.6 Impiety in Classical Athens ...................................................................................................... 15 1.6.1 The Trial of Socrates ............................................................................................................. 17 1.6.2 Profaning the Mysteries and Mutilating the Herms .............................................................. 20 1.6.3 Intellectual Trials ................................................................................................................... 22 1.7 The Comedies of Aristophanes ................................................................................................ 24 CHAPTER 2 - ARISTOPHANES’ PEACE .................................................................................. 26 2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 26 2.2 Ascending to Heaven................................................................................................................ 27 2.3 Meeting Hermes ....................................................................................................................... 28 2.4 Unearthing Peace ...................................................................................................................... 33 2.5 Theoria...................................................................................................................................... 35 2.6 The Divine Order...................................................................................................................... 38 2.7 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 39 CHAPTER 3 - ARISTOPHANES’ BIRDS .................................................................................... 41 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 41 3.2 The Gods .................................................................................................................................. 42 3.3 The New Avian Gods ............................................................................................................... 46 3.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 47 CHAPTER 4