The Cambridge companion to Greek comedy

491 Pages·2014·5.91 MB·English

by  Revermann

THE CAMBIZIDGE
COMPANION TO
G R E E K C O M E D Y
EIJITEI) Bl''
MARTIN REVERMANN
CAMBRIDGE
,:,,.~.:.,.
·> UNIVERSIT"Y PRESS
~.
j •
CAMB:RIDGE
UNIVERSITY PRESS
lJniversitv Printing llouse, c:an1bridge 8ns, lJnited Kingdon1
CB2
• t.... L \. ..
c:~unbridge lJniversity Press is part of the lJniversity of c:an1bridge.
It furthers the lJniversity's rnission by disserninating kno\vledge in the pursuit of
education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence.
\VW\v.can1l1ridgc.org
( < ~ ••
Infonnation on this title: .ea 1nbridge.org/9 7 8o 7 4 7
\V\V\V 52 1 400
C(~) C:a•nbridge lJniversity Press 20 1 4
This pub1ication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreen1cnts,
no reproduction of any part n1ay take place \Vithout the \vritten
per1nission of L~<:unbridge University Press.
First published
2014
Printed in the lJnited Kingdorn by St Ives plc
(~lays,
l1 catalogue record {or this publication is available lrotn the British Library
ol
Library in Publication data
C~ongress (~ataloguing
The C:ambridge to Greek C:ornedy I edited by :'v1artin Revern1ann.
C~on1panion
pages ern. - (c :arnbridgc Cornpanions to Literature)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
978-o-52I-76o28-7 (hardback)
ISBN
(;reek drarna (C:oinedv)- l Iistorv and criticisn1. I. R.evern1ann,
1. ~·1a.rtin,
1 "' ' ..
cdi tor of cornpila tion.
PA)I6I.C27 2014
8821 dc2 3 7
.0109- 201305003
978-o- 5 Hardback
ISBN 21-76028-7
978-o-521-74740-o Paperback
ISBN
c:arnbridgc {Jniversity Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of
for external or third-party internet vvebsites referred to in this publication,
URLs
and does not guarantee that any content on such \vebsitcs is, or rctnain,
\~lill
.accurate or appropnate.
C:C)NTENTS
T.ist of illustrations page x
..
Notes on contributors
Xll
A c knot{) le ti gent en ts ••
XV11
Introduction
I
&·IARTIN REVERMANN
PART I SETTING TI~IE STAGE (IN ATI-IENS AND BEYOND)
Defining the genre 27
_1_
DAVIlJ KCJNSTAN
The rivals of Aristophanes and :\1cnander
.2.
ZACIIARY P. BILES
Fourth-century con1edy before !\1enander 6o
K E I T ll S I J) \Xl E I. I.
4 Epicharn1us and early Sicilian con1cdy
79
KATHHYN BOSHER
--}- The iconography of con1edy
95
ERIC CSAPC)
·r
P A H 'T I I C C) M I C T I I F A H 17
6 [)ratnatic technique and Athenian con1edy
T)l
C .W. MARS IIA L L
+
Character types
IAN RUFFELI.
..
VlJ
CONTENTS
The language(s) of con1edy !68
_8_
ANIJREAS WILLJ
PART' JII CENTRAL THEMES
Laughter
189
STEPIIEN IIAI.I.IWEI.L
Utopianisrn
r o 206
TAN HIIFFPI I
The c;reek 'conlic hero'
IT
RALPII l\·1. ROSEN
Social class
12
l)A\/11) KA\X/Al.KC) RC)SELLl
3 Perforrning gender in c;reek ()]d and Ne\v c:oiTledy
I 2)9
IIELENE P. :EOLEY
Divinity ar1d religious practice
_!A_ 275
1\·1ARTIN REVER:\,1ANN
PART IV POLITICS, l..A\\l ANIJ SC)CIAL IIISTCJRY
T'
The politics of (;reek comedy
ALAN SOM!dERSIEIN
l6 Corr1edv and Athenian festival culture
E l) J T ll H A I.. L
.,_,
I 7 (~ornedy and Athenian la \h.' 3 .............
VICTORIA
~'OIIL
Con1edv and the social historian
S I J S A N I , A P f t\ N I) A I E 0 N S C1 M f) R f N Cl
PART V RECEPTIC)i\
Attic con1edy in the rhetorical and n1oralising traditions
_!_2_
RICHARJ) liUNTER
• • •
Vll1
CONTENTS
of reception in antiquity
C~ontexts
20
SEBASTIANA NERVEGNA
The reception of Greek corncdy in Ron1e
r 404
2
i\1 I C li A E L F C) N T t\ I N F
The transrnission of cornic texts
2 2
NIGJ:I \VIISf)N
23 Snapshots of Aristophanes and Menandcr: fron1 spontaneous
reception to belated reception study
GONDA VAN STEEN
Biblio'"!J,raphy
451
Index
494
•
lX
ILLUSTH.. A TIONS
JV1ap: Son1c cities of South Italy and Sicily in the classical and early
Hellenistic period
fJage 8
1
5. Fragn1cnt of Attic black-figured dinos, c. 575 i\gora P 334·
I BCJ:,
Courtesy of Agora Excavations, .A.n1erican School of C:lassical
Studies
97
5·2 Attic black-figured dinos, Ptr. of Louvre E 8?6, c. s6o
BCE,
I.ouvre E 876. Distribution R.J'v1.N./ © l"cs frcrcs ChuzcviJlc
'
5 ·3 Attic black-figured lip-cup, c. 5 so Florence 3 897. By perrnission
BCE,
of the Soprintcndcnza per I Beni Archcologici, Florence
99
5 ·4 Attic black-figured skyphos, c. 510 BCE, Boston !vtF.Lt\. 20.18.
Photograph (g 2014 \/Iuseun1 of Fine JA.rts, Boston
TOO
s
5 ·5 FragnletltS of a choregic relief, 3 50-340 i\gora 2098. c:ourtesy
BCE,
of Agora Excavations, An1erican School of Classical Studies 101
5.6 Reconstruction of a fragn1entary red~figured chous, c. 3 6o BCE, Benaki
3089 5. lleproduced frorn Sen1ele Pingiatoglou, chapter X in Kotinos:
Festschrift fiir Erika Sin·zon edited by Heide Froning, Tonio Holscher
and Harald .\tielsch (P. von Zabern, 1992) 102
5·7 Attic red-figured calyx krater, c. 425 forn1erly \J1alibu 82.AE.83 .
BCE,
.Ylinistero per i Beni e le Attivita Culturali, Italy 103
5.8 Attic red-figured pehke, c. 425 i\tlanta 2008.4. c:ourtesy of the
BCE, T.
c:.
.\'lichael c:arlos A1useun1 of Ernory U'niversity. Photograph Bruce
\4. \Xlhite, 2oo8 ro4
5 ·9 Attic red-figured chous, Painter of the Perseus Dance, c. 420 BCE,
Athens l)ravving by E. Ivlalyon
N~1 82: 5T8. TO)
5.10 Attic polychron1e oinochoe, c. 400 BCE, i\gora P 23985. Dra\ving by
Piet de jong. of i\gora Excavations, An1erican School of
C~ourtesy
Classical Studies
1 o7
1
5. r r Apulian red-figured calyx krater, Tarporley Painter, c. 400 NeVv'
BCE,
'York, 24 ·9 7.104. © 2011. In1age copyright The }v1etropolitan
~l[J\.tA
\11 useun1 of Art/Art Resource/Scala, Florence
109
X
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
5.12 Apulian red-figured bell krater, ~~lcDaniel Painter, c. 3 70 BCE, Boston
lvlFA 69.9 5 Photograph © Muscun1 of Fine A,rts, Boston
I. 20I4 I I I
5.13 Apulian red-figured bell krater, Schiller Painter, c. 3 W\irzburg
70 BCE,
H 5 697. \Xfagncr-J\1 uscun1 dcr Wiirzburg
:\~1artin-von- Universit~it I I 2
5.14 Can1eo, c. BCE, c;eneva, M usee d'art et d,histoire, 97 4/2113 3.
I 00 I
© :\tluscc d'art et d'histoirc, Villc de c;encvc, inv. 3 3. c:arnco,
2 I I
drarnatic scene from 'nevv con1edy'. Photograph Jean-!v1arc Yersin 17
I
5. 5 1\·1 arb1c relief, first century CI~, Naples, N1 usco Naziona]c 6687. By
I
pern1ission of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici, Napoli e
Pon1pci 8
I I
5.16 Ivory consular diptych of i\nastasius, 5 17 The State Hern1itage
CE,
Nluscun1, St. Pctcrsburg w 263 (Byz 925/16). Photograph© The State
Herrr1itage use urn
~1 120
5· I7 Jvlosaic by Dioskouridcs, 125-Too Naples, \1useo Nazionale
BCE,
99 8 5. By pern1ission of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici,
Napoli c Pon1pci
T 2 I
5.18 \X1a llpainting fron1 Villa in Ca1npo Varano, Sta biae, first century cE,
Nap]cs, l\1usco Nazionalc 9034. By pcrn1ission of the Soprintcndcnza
per i Beni Archeologici, N a poli e Pon1pei 3
I 2
5. r9 Nlosaic fron1 Pon1peii, first century Dcposito dcll'Uffic]o Scavi di
CE,
Pon1 peii in v. 177 3 5. By perrr1ission of the Soprintendenza per i Beni
Archcologici, Napo1i e Pon1pei
124
J\1osaic, Tricliniun1, House of fourth century
5.20 ~~tenander, ~/1yti1ene,
CE 125
7. r Pollux's typology 1: old n1en
TST
7.2 Pollux's typology 11: young n1en
7·3 Pollux's typology Ill: slaves
1 53
7 ·4 Pollux' s typology IV: v..rornen
54
1
20.1 Relief of a seated poet ( ~11enander) vv1th n1asks of Nevv C~otTledy, first
century---.early first century l)rinceton University Art 1·,1useun1
CE.
(Yl95I-r), iv'luseunl purchase, c:aroline c;. Fund. Photograph
~~father
Yl.
Bruce White 3 89
Wall painting reproducing !vlenander fron1 the House of in
20.2 ~'1enander
Pon1peii (l.x.4 }., dated to the first century l{eproduced with
CE.
pern1ission of the per i Beni e le Attivita c:ulturali
~·1inistero
paverr1ent: Glykera, Spirit of Cornedy (Kc>n1oidia),
20.3 ~1osaic ~1enander,
late third century Princeton University (yr940-43 ;).
CE. 1~rt ~·1useutll
Gift of the Con1n1ittee for the Excavation of Antioch to Princeton
University. Photograph Bruce 1v1. White
3 Front cc)ver of a 1999 special issue of I'o Pontiki
2 .1
•
Xl
c;
A KN C) \XI LED E EN TS
C~ ~·'1
First, I \voulcllike to thank all contributors for their \villingness to share their
expertise \Vithirl tl1e forn1at of a Ca1nbricige Cornpanion. A special \Vord of
thanks is due to l)r Michae1 Sharp, rJizabeth Hanlon and C:hristina Sari
giannidou of c:arl1bridge Urliversity Press arld copy-editor E.lizabeth DavisOI1
for their professionalism and cotnn1itn1ent. Adriana Patrick Hadley,
l~rook,
Alysse Ricl1 ar1d Dor1ald Sells provided l1elpft1l criticisrn at various poir1ts.
This volun1e is dedicated, \Vith great sadness, to the n1en1ory of t\VO late
I<
colleagues, Austir1 ar1d a tl1ryr1 Bosher, in grateful recogr1itior1 of tl1e
C~olin
contributions they have n1ade to the study of Greek con1edy.
..
XVll
MARTIN REVERMANN
Introduction
Greekcomedy:somebasics
The only fully intact textual evidence from fifth-century and (very) early
fourth-century comedy are the eleven completely preserved comedies by
Aristophanes, who was born, in all likelihood, shortly after 450 bce and
diedafter388bce.1 Thisis,infact,notasthinabasisasonemightinitially
think. For not only is the number of completely preserved Aristophanic
comedies actually quite high: it amounts, after all, to about a quarter of
Aristophanes’totaloutputofaroundfortycomedies(contrastthiswiththe
sevenplayswehavebySophoclesandthesixorsevenwehavebyAeschylus,
both of whom wrote considerably more plays in total than Aristophanes).
Whatisperhapsmoreisthefactthatthoseelevencomediesaredatable(in
mostcasesveryprecisely),andthattheyhappentospantheentireduration
of Aristophanes’ artistic career, from the earlier part (Acharnians [425],
Knights [424], Clouds [423], Wasps[422] and Peace [421]) viamid-career
plays(Birds[414],Lysistrata[411],WomenattheThesmophoria[411]and
Frogs[405])totheearlyfourth-centuryplays(AssemblyWomen[393,392
or391?]andWealth[388]).
For the remainder of the fourth century, however, the textual evidence
is largely fragmentary. There is one virtually complete comedy, preserved
on papyrus, the Dyscolus by Menander (who lived from 342/1 bce to
292/1bceorthereabouts).Thiscomedy,whichhasbeenknownonlysince
the publication of the Bodmer papyrus codex in 1959, was performed in
316 bce (when it won first prize in Athens at the Lenaean festival). It is
therefore quite an early Menander play. There are substantial parts of sev-
eral other Menandrian comedies (Aspis, Samia, Men at Arbitration and
1 OnthelifeofAristophanesandthechronologyofhisworksseeGelzer(1971)1391–
1419(themostdetailedaccount);Easterling/Knox(1985)775–7;Halliwell(1997)
ix–xvii;vonMo¨llendorff(2002)58–62.
1
martin revermann
Perikeiromeneˆ), known from the Bodmer codex just mentioned and the
Cairo Codex published in 1907.2 A few more plays, notably The Sicy-
onian(s),wehavesomeideaof.ApartfromtheDyscolus,however,noneof
theplaysjustmentionediscurrentlydatablewithanyconfidence.Giventhat
Menander’stotaloutputisknowntohaveexceeded100comedies,whatwe
arelefttoworkwithisthereforeafairlymeagresample.
Inaddition,thereisalargeamountoffragmentarytextualevidencefrom
both fifth- and fourth-century comedy, collected in the landmark edition
by Rudolf Kassel and one of the dedicatees of this volume, the late Colin
Austin(eightvolumeswerepublishedbetween1983and2001;notethatin
this Companion all quotations of comic fragments are from this edition).
ThisincludesremainsfromSicilianplaywrights,especiallyEpicharmus,who
wrotenotintheAtticdialect(whichallothercomedywehavewascomposed
in) but in their local Doric dialect. Produced in the very late sixth and
earlyfifthcenturies,Epicharmus’workpre-datesanythingwehaveofAttic
comedy by decades. Unfortunately, the fragments and play titles currently
knownofferonlyafewtantalizingglimpses.Evenasbasicaquestionasto
whether Epicharmus’ plays, and Sicilian comedy in general, had a chorus
at all remains controversial. Last but certainly not least there is rich visual
evidence, especially terracotta figurines and comedy-related vase paintings,
although most of these vases are not from fifth-century Athens but from
SouthItalyinthefourthcentury.Theirsystematiccollectionand,evenmore
so, their rigorous use for the understanding of comedy is a more recent
phenomenon in the study of Greek comedy (associated in particular with
thenamesofThomasWebsterandOliverTaplin).Theevidenceforcomedy
tendstobemucheasiertohandlemethodologicallythanartifactsrelatedto
tragedy,andprovidesinvaluableinformationaboutcostume,masks,props
andplotsinparticular.
ACompaniontoGreekComedy
At least two general conclusions present themselves as a result of this very
brief survey. First, our views on fifth- and fourth-century comedy are by
defaultsomewhat‘Aristophanocentric’and‘Menandrocentric’,respectively.
Thiscannotchangefundamentallywithoutsubstantialnewpapyrusdiscov-
eries.Havingsaidthat,thisCompanionmakesaseriousandsustainedeffort
towidenthescopeofanalysisbeyondAristophanesandMenanderwherever
possible(mostovertlysointhechapterbyBilesontherivalsofAristophanes
2 ForthehistoryoftheMenandertextanditsrestorationseeBlume(2010)andHandley
(2011).
2