🏛️Ancient Mediterranean Classics Unit 7 – Greek Comedy: Aristophanes & Menander

Key Figures and Playwrights

• Aristophanes (c. 446 – c. 386 BC) considered the greatest representative of ancient Greek comedy, known for his satirical plays (The Frogs, The Birds)
• Wrote at least 40 plays, 11 of which survive today as the only complete examples of Old Comedy
• Menander (c. 342 – c. 290 BC) the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy, praised for his realistic characters and social commentary
• Influenced later Roman comic playwrights Plautus and Terence, as well as Shakespeare and Molière
• Other notable playwrights include Cratinus, Eupolis, and Philippus, though their works survive only in fragments
  • Cratinus won first prize in the City Dionysia competition six times, defeating Aristophanes on at least two occasions
  • Eupolis known for his political satire and personal attacks on public figures, often collaborating with Aristophanes

Historical Context

• Greek comedy developed in Athens during the 5th and 4th centuries BC, reflecting the city's democratic values and cultural innovations
• Old Comedy (c. 480 – 380 BC) characterized by satirical attacks on public figures, fantasy plots, and bawdy humor
  • Emerged during the Peloponnesian War (431 – 404 BC) between Athens and Sparta, often critiquing wartime policies and leaders
• New Comedy (c. 320 – 260 BC) focused on domestic situations, stock characters, and social commentary
  • Developed after Athens' defeat in the war and the collapse of its democratic system, reflecting a more apolitical and cosmopolitan society
• Plays were performed at religious festivals honoring Dionysus, particularly the City Dionysia and Lenaea, as part of a competition between playwrights
• Comedy served as a form of political and social critique, using humor to address contemporary issues and challenge authority

Characteristics of Greek Comedy

• Old Comedy known for its satirical attacks on public figures, often depicting them as ridiculous caricatures
  • Plays frequently broke the fourth wall, with characters directly addressing the audience and commenting on current events
• Featured fantastical plots and absurd situations, such as a city of birds (The Birds) or a strike by women to end a war (Lysistrata)
• Used bawdy, sexual humor and vulgar language to provoke laughter and challenge social norms
• New Comedy focused on domestic situations and stock characters, such as the young lovers, the cunning slave, and the stern father
  • Plots often revolved around love, marriage, and family conflicts, with a happy resolution at the end
• Emphasized realistic characterization and social commentary, exploring themes of class, gender, and morality
• Chorus played a reduced role compared to Old Comedy, mostly providing musical interludes and commentary on the action

Famous Plays and Plot Summaries

• Aristophanes' "The Frogs" (405 BC) depicts the god Dionysus descending to the underworld to bring back Euripides, but ultimately choosing Aeschylus as the better tragic poet
  • Satirizes the decline of tragic drama and the moral decay of Athenian society
• "The Birds" (414 BC) follows two Athenians who convince the birds to create a new city in the sky, ultimately challenging the gods' authority
  • Parodies Athenian imperialism and the utopian ideals of philosophers like Plato
• "Lysistrata" (411 BC) depicts the women of Greece going on a sex strike to force their husbands to end the Peloponnesian War
  • Subversive commentary on gender roles and the absurdity of war
• Menander's "Dyskolos" (The Grouch) (316 BC) tells the story of a misanthropic old man who tries to prevent his daughter's marriage to a poor farmer
  • Explores themes of love, class, and the importance of community
• "Samia" (The Woman from Samos) (c. 315 BC) involves a series of misunderstandings and deceptions surrounding a young man's secret marriage and child
  • Highlights the complexities of family relationships and the consequences of dishonesty

Themes and Social Commentary

• Greek comedy often served as a form of political and social critique, using humor to address contemporary issues and challenge authority
• Old Comedy frequently satirized public figures and institutions, such as politicians, philosophers, and the Athenian legal system
  • Aristophanes' plays mocked the demagogue Cleon, the philosopher Socrates, and the tragic playwright Euripides, among others
• Plays explored themes of war and peace, particularly during the Peloponnesian War, advocating for an end to the conflict
  • "Lysistrata" and "The Acharnians" (425 BC) both criticize the war and its impact on Athenian society
• Comedies often challenged traditional gender roles and power dynamics, depicting women as intelligent, resourceful, and capable of political action
  • "Assemblywomen" (c. 392 BC) imagines a society where women take over the government and institute a form of communism
• New Comedy focused on social commentary and the domestic sphere, exploring themes of love, marriage, and family
  • Menander's plays often depicted the struggles of ordinary people and the importance of human relationships
• Plays also addressed issues of class and social status, with wealthy characters often portrayed as corrupt or foolish, while poor characters were sympathetic and virtuous

Theatrical Techniques and Staging

• Greek comedies were performed in outdoor theaters during religious festivals, with a chorus of 24 men and a small number of actors playing multiple roles
• Actors wore distinctive masks and costumes to indicate their characters, with exaggerated features and padding for comic effect
  • Masks allowed for quick changes between characters and helped project the actors' voices in the large, open-air theaters
• Plays often incorporated music and dance, with the chorus performing songs and rhythmic movements to comment on the action
  • Some comedies, like "The Frogs," featured extended musical contests between characters
• Stagecraft and special effects were used for comic purposes, such as the giant dung beetle in "Peace" (421 BC) or the elaborate bird costumes in "The Birds"
• Sets were minimal, typically representing the exterior of a house or public building, with a central door for entrances and exits
  • The skene, a wooden structure behind the stage, could be used for costume changes and to represent interior spaces
• Plays were performed in competition, with judges awarding prizes for the best productions and performances
  • Playwrights often used their comedies to comment on the judging process and appeal directly to the audience for support

Legacy and Influence

• Greek comedy had a lasting impact on Western literature and theater, influencing later playwrights and genres
• Roman comic playwrights, such as Plautus and Terence, adapted Greek New Comedy for Roman audiences, preserving many of Menander's plots and characters
  • Plautus' "Menaechmi" (The Twin Brothers) inspired Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors"
• Renaissance and Neoclassical playwrights, such as Shakespeare and Molière, drew on the stock characters and plot devices of New Comedy
  • Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "As You Like It" feature elements of Greek comedy, such as mistaken identities and happy endings
• The satirical spirit of Old Comedy influenced later political and social satire, from Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" to contemporary television shows like "Saturday Night Live"
• Greek comedy's emphasis on the absurdity of human behavior and the subversion of social norms paved the way for modern absurdist and surrealist theater
  • Playwrights like Samuel Beckett and Eugène Ionesco explored similar themes of existential crisis and the breakdown of communication
• The study of Greek comedy continues to provide insight into ancient Athenian society, politics, and culture, as well as the enduring power of humor as a means of social commentary and critique

Fun Facts and Trivia

• Aristophanes' play "The Knights" (424 BC) was performed with the actors wearing masks resembling contemporary politicians, including the demagogue Cleon
  • Cleon was so outraged by his portrayal that he sued Aristophanes, though the outcome of the case is unknown
• In "The Acharnians," the protagonist Dikaiopolis makes a private peace treaty with Sparta and enjoys a luxurious feast while his fellow citizens suffer from wartime rationing
  • The play won first prize at the Lenaea festival in 425 BC, despite its controversial political message
• Menander's plays were lost for centuries until papyrus fragments were discovered in Egypt in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
  • The first complete play, "Dyskolos," was found in 1957, shedding new light on the nature of New Comedy
• The phrase "deus ex machina," referring to an unexpected or contrived solution to a problem, comes from the Greek comic device of a god appearing on stage to resolve the plot
  • In Menander's "The Shield," the god Chance appears at the end to ensure a happy ending for the characters
• The Roman playwright Terence faced accusations of plagiarism for adapting Menander's plays without proper attribution
  • In the prologue to his play "The Eunuch," Terence defends himself by arguing that borrowing from Greek originals was a common practice among Roman writers
• The philosopher Aristotle wrote a treatise on comedy, the "Poetics," which discussed the genre's origins, techniques, and social functions
  • Unfortunately, only a few fragments of this work survive, leaving many questions about his views on comedy unanswered