Athenian Comedy in the Roman Empire

Description

Athenian comedy is firmly entrenched in the classical canon, but imperial authors debated, dissected and redirected comic texts, plots and language of Aristophanes, Menander, and their rivals in ways that reflect the non-Athenocentric, pan-Mediterranean performance culture of the imperial era. Although the reception of tragedy beyond its own contemporary era has been studied, the legacy of Athenian comedy in the Roman world is less well understood. This volume offers the first expansive treatment of the reception of Athenian comedy in the Roman Empire. These engaged and engaging studies examine the lasting impact of classical Athenian comic drama. Demonstrating a variety of methodologies and scholarly perspectives, sources discussed include papyri, mosaics, stage history, epigraphy and a broad range of literature such as dramatic works in Latin and Greek, including verse satire, essays, and epistolary fiction. Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Contents Acknowledgements Note on transliteration and names 1 Ignorance and the Reception of Comedy in Antiquity Classical Athenian comedy (486–323 bce ) Comedy in the Hellenistic era (323–31 bce ) Athenian comedy in the Roman empire (31 bce –) Notes 2 Juvenal and the Revival of Greek New Comedy at Rome I. Greek actors and Roman festivals II. Comic scripts, elite recitations, and a new togata Notes 3 Parrhēsia and Pudenda : Speaking Genitals and Satiric Speech Speaking genitals and parrhēsia in Aristophanes Ritual etiologies for the ‘organ without a body’: the phallus- pole and baubo Roman receptions: Horace, Persius, and Juvenal Petronius and the death of the speaking penis Skoptic prosopopoeia in Martial Under pressure: male hysteria Notes 4 Dio Chrysostom and the Naked Parabasis Parabases in Old Comedy and beyond Dio’s naked parabases Dio’s parabatic strategy Notes 5 Favorinus and the Comic Adultery Plot I. Transvestism, eunuchism, and the comic plot in Athenian drama II. Ancient sources on the sexuality of eunuchs III. Transvestism and eunuch adultery in the literature of the Second Sophistic IV. The eunuch adulterer in the rhetorical tradition V. Comic eunuchism and sophistic self- fashioning Conclusion Notes 6 Comedies and Comic Actors in the Greek East: An Epigraphical Perspective I. II. III. IV. V. Epigraphical publications Notes 7 Plutarch, Epitomes, and Athenian Comedy Notes 8 Lucian’s Aristophanes: On Understanding Old Comedy in the Roman Imperial Period Plutarch on Aristophanes The Dead Come to Life, or the Fisherman and Lucian’s satiric program Lucian’s Double Indictment ( Bis Accusatus ) and Old Comedy Concluding thoughts Notes 9 Exposing Frauds: Lucian and Comedy Notes 10 Revoking Comic License: Aristides’ Or. 29 and the Performance of Comedy I. Performance II. Aristides on comedy Notes 11 Aelian and Comedy: Four Studies I. Socrates goes to the theatre II. Plays Aelian knows III. The structure of Rustic Letters IV. Eupolis and his puppy. Notes 12 The Menandrian World of Alciphron’s Letters Tracing Menander in the Letters The special case of the Ἐπιστολαὶ Ἑταιρικαί The epistolary Menander Notes 13 Two Clouded Marriages: Aristainetos’ Allusions to Aristophanes’ Clouds in Letters 2.3 and 2.12 A literary diptych An epistolary quartet Postscript: Clearing- up dirty joke in Clouds Notes Bibliography Index Untitled Untitled