Editing Old Comedy (section)

==Aristophanes and his contemporaries==

Aristophanes satirized and lampooned the most prominent personalities and institutions of his time, as can be seen, for example, in his scurrilous portrayal of [[Socrates]] in ''[[The Clouds]]'', and in his racy anti-war farce ''[[Lysistrata]]''. Aristophanes was only one of a large number of comic poets, however, working in Athens in the late 5th century BCE; his biggest rivals were [[Hermippus]] and [[Eupolis]]. Classical literary criticism placed Aristophanes somewhere between the harshness of Cratinus and the smoothness of Eupolis.<ref>H Nettleship, ''A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities'' (London 1894) p. 67</ref>

All the Old Comedy writers worked within a highly structured format – [[parodos]], [[agon]], and [[parabasis]] – which paradoxically offered maximum scope for improvisatory flights of fancy.<ref>I Ousby ed., ''The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English'' (Cambridge 1995) p. 195</ref> Song, dance, costume, and chorus all played important roles, as did the [[parody]] of the ‘senior’ drama, [[tragedy]].<ref>S H Butcher, ''Harvard Lectures on Greek Subjects'' (London 1904) p. 175 and p. 181-4</ref> Possibly due to the influence of tragedy was the important role of a heroic figure in Aristophanic comedy: as [[Northrop Frye]] put it, “In Aristophanes there is usually a central figure who constructs his (or her) own society in the teeth of strong opposition”.<ref>N Frye, ''Anatomy of Criticism'' (Princeton 1971) p. 43</ref> The diminished role of the protagonist (and chorus) in his latest works marks a point of transition to the [[Middle comedy]].<ref>S Halliwell, ''Aristophanes: Birds and other plays'' (Oxford 1998) p. 202</ref>

The trend from Old Comedy to New Comedy saw a move away from highly topical concerns with real individuals and local issues towards generalized situations and stock characters. This was partly due to the internationalization of cultural perspectives during and after the Peloponnesian War.<ref>Ralph Rosen, ''Aristophanes'' '''3''', D. Slavitt and P. Bovie (eds), University of Pennsylvania Press 1999, p. xiv</ref><ref>''Clouds'' translated by P. Meineck with introduction by I. Storey, Hackett Publishing 2000, p. viii</ref> For ancient commentators such as Plutarch <ref>''Comparison of Aristophanes and Menander''</ref> and Aristotle, <ref> ''Nicomachean Ethics'' 1128a22-25 </ref> New Comedy was a more sophisticated form of drama than Old Comedy. However, Old Comedy was in fact a complex and sophisticated dramatic form incorporating many approaches to humour and entertainment.<ref>''Clouds'' translated by P. Meineck with introduction by I. Storey, Hackett Publishing 2000, p. VII</ref> In Aristophanes' early plays, the genre appears to have developed around a complex set of dramatic conventions, and these were only gradually simplified and abandoned.

The City Dionysia and the Lenaia were celebrated in honour of Dionysus, the god of wine and ecstasy. ([[Euripides]]' play ''[[The Bacchae]]'' offers the best insight into fifth century ideas about this god.)<ref>''Clouds'' P. Meineck (translator) and I. Storey (Introduction), Hackett Publishing 2000, p. viii</ref> Old Comedy can be understood as a celebration of the exuberant sense of release inherent in his worship.<ref>''Clouds'' P. Meineck (translator) and I. Storey (Introduction), Hackett Publishing 2000, p. xix</ref> It was more interested in finding targets for satire than in any kind of advocacy.<ref>Andrewes, Antony. ''Greek Society''. Pelican Books 1981, p. 247</ref> During the City Dionysia, a statue of the god was brought to the theatre from a temple outside the city, and it remained in the theatre throughout the festival, overseeing the plays like a privileged member of the audience.<ref>Sommerstein, Alan (ed). ''Aristophanes: Lysistrata, The Acharnians, The Clouds''. Penguin Classics 1975, p. 18</ref> In ''The Frogs'', the god appears also as a dramatic character, and he enters the theatre ludicrously disguised as [[Hercules]]. He observes to the audience that every time he is on hand to hear a joke from a comic dramatist like Phrynichus (one of Aristophanes' rivals) he ages by more than a year.<ref>''Frogs'' Wikisource English translation [[s:The Frogs]]; original Greek text [http://el.wikisource.org/wiki/%CE%92%CE%AC%CF%84%CF%81%CE%B1%CF%87%CE%BF%CE%B9 ] lines 12–18</ref> This scene opens the play, and it is a reminder to the audience that nobody is above mockery in Old Comedy—not even its patron god and its practitioners. Gods, artists, politicians and ordinary citizens were legitimate targets; comedy was a kind of licensed buffoonery,<ref>Andrewes, Antony. ''Greek Society''. Pelican Books 1981, p. 248</ref> and there was no legal redress for anyone who was slandered in a play.<ref>{{harvnb|Barrett|1964|p=27}}</ref> There were certain limits to the scope of the satire, but they are not easily defined. Impiety could be punished in fifth century Athens, but the absurdities implicit in the traditional religion were open to ridicule.<ref>Sommerstein, Alan (ed). ''Aristophanes: Lysistrata, The Acharnians, Clouds''. Penguin Classics 1975, p. 17</ref> The [[polis]] was not allowed to be slandered, but as stated in the biography section of this article, that could depend on who was in the audience and which festival was involved.

For convenience, Old Comedy, as represented by Aristophanes' early plays, is analysed below in terms of three broad characteristics—topicality, festivity and complexity. Dramatic structure contributes to the complexity of Aristophanes' plays. However, it is associated with poetic rhythms and meters that have little relevance to English translations and it is therefore treated in a separate section.